It is always good to read about someone who is trying to help. I did not realize there were so many chickens needing to be rescued. I think it is great that these hens are getting to live out their lives in peace. I hope her fundraising goes well and many more chickens have a brighter future.
http://www.wlos.com/shared/news/features...5278.shtml
It seems that where ever there is a need some angel steps in to meet the need.
Blessings to her. What she is doing for these chickens is wonderful. A neighbour of mine, a quarter mile away, also rescues chickens (ex-battery hens) but on a slightly smaller scale. It is so good to be able to see these chickens live out their lives in a natural way. They are so happy, foraging, and being out in the sunshine (when we get any!)
I love watching how chickens wander around and just peck and scratch and snack on anything they can find. All hens should have a chance at a peaceful life like that. I have heard about people in England rescuing ex-battery hens. It must be wonderful to see their faces as they touch the earth for the first time. How wonderful to be able to do that for an animal of any kind.
Chickens are really nice, when you get to know them. Down the lane from me (in the other direction), lives a retired Major, and he has free-range chickens. The other day I was walking down the lane and encountered a bunch of them foraging. I talked to them, and they looked up, their heads on one side -really listening to me. One went in a ditch, and didn't seem too happy down there, so I said "Come out you silly thing!" And it came out and came up to me making those little chicken-noises. I had a feeling one could make a real bond with a chicken, and be great friends.
They seem to be very intelligent and affectionate -which they are probably not always given credit for, because people don't often keep them as companion animals.
You are right, we underestimate chickens. I am sure they can bond with people. I think when people had a few hens they did bond with them. Happy chickens probably gave more eggs.
I think all birds are more intelligent than we give them credit for. Certainly chickens must be. They do a wonderful job of hatching eggs and raising chicks if they get the chance.
I wish I could get to see chickens like you do. There are no chickens in Toronto since there is a bylaw that forbids them.
Of course that doesn't explain why we sometimes hear a rooster.
We all know they are here, but we don't know who has them.
Globally there are many hundreds of millions of chickens confined to battery cages....
And bear in mind that only the female chicks go through to the cage systems. The male chicks are destroyed a day or two after birth as they have no 'commercial value.'
The whole chicken breeding system is unimaginably cruel. I have actually seen a chicken ranch with battery cages(many years ago) and believe me it is a sight I will never forget. You are right, the male chicks are all killed. The lucky ones are killed mercifully. The others....I think I won't post what I just saw.
Every step that is taken to end this system is a step in the right direction. I just hope someday the world will look back and wonder how this could have happened and why did we let it go on so long.
We have free range chickens here. They are awesome and very social. Our hens layed eggs much longer than they were 'supposed' to. I think it was because of their casual lifestlye. Pretty mcuh just allowed to live life as they choose.
Also, it's hilarious when we BBQ on the weekends. They come running up to us while we're outside hanging around the grill. They stay for the whole BBQ. The little treats they get might have something to do with it. No animal gets left out during BBQ, lol!! Goats get the veggie scraps. Chickens just LOVE shrimp shells fresh off the barbie. And the dog and cat get to taste test little morsels of meat during the cooking process. We get whatever is left, lol!!!!
No wonder your chickens are happy. They get to live mellow, relaxed, chicken lives doing whatever chickens do all day. I love the idea of a family BBQ at your place with goats and chickens mooching and generally being part of the fun.
You are good to your hens and they repay you with lots of eggs.
Did you ever get them to clean your driveway.
Our hens are getting on in years so I have not had eggs for a while. I have been buying from a neighbor down the road.
In a month or so we will most like replenish our flock with some laying hens.
Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to try out my little experiment with the chikens as snow plows, lol.
We have been having issues with the neighbor's dogs. they have already killed one chicken and my driveway would put them in seeing distance of the dogs.
(
I try to encourage them to stay closer to the house until we figure out a remedy to the situation.
Maybe next winter I will have a chance to try out my idea. *Fingers crossed*