Wednesday 14 November 2007

Rehoming a Battery Hen - November Newsletter

I have just finished the latest newsletter - I hope you all enjoy it. In addition to some subscriber coops and photos, tips and a story I also have an article on re-homing battery hens. If you have ever thought about re-homing an ex-battery hen you may have wondered what you might expect from one. Ex-battery hens can go on to thrive as 'real' hens in your backyard.

Battery eggs will hopefully one day be a thing of the past, but it does take time. One thing we can all do that will help speed things up is to refuse to buy any products that contain battery farmed eggs (if a product contains free-range eggs it will usually say so).

If you are interested in supporting an ex-battery hen there is currently a 'help care for a battery hen for a week' campaign in progress.

If you are interested in re-homing a battery hen(s) then you may be able to find contacts through your local animal welfare charity. Sometimes it is possible to go to the source directly - egg farms are often willing to sell off their 'spent' hens. Please bear in mind when contacting them that many egg farmers do use cage-free / free range egg farming. Those that are using caged hens, are probably operating well within the legal requirements for egg farming and will be happy to co-operate with you if possible.

Here is a link for USA based egg companies grouped by state –
http://www.manta.com/mb_34_C00FC_000/chicken_eggs

If you are in the UK then The Battery Hen Wellfare Trust can help you locate some ex-battery hens http://www.bhwt.org.uk

I hope you enjoy the newsletter, if you are not already subscribed you can do so by entering your name and email address in the form at the top right-hand corner of this blog.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just read your your newsletter. I want you to know that I found it very informative about the poor caged hens and entertaining as well. It inspired me to check out my local chicken farm to see if they have any to rescue. I loved the little personal story you included. It was a lift of spirit after reading about the caged hens. Thank you. I look forward to your newsletters.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Gina for yes, another great newsletter.
I enjoy them so much and love the pictures of everyone's coops and chickens
Keep up the great work!
Kathy Molizon
Fraggle FLock

Anonymous said...

Hi Gina,

I thought I'd drop you a line and tell you I'm finally getting 3 eggs a day from my 4 girls....the 4th is a runt and I don't expect much this year. She's my youngest son's chicken and he named her Queen Latifa...you see the irony.

Anyway, thanks for your support and great advise.

best
Joann
PS love the newsletter and have forwarded it to others who are thinking about chickens.

Anonymous said...

Hi Gina,
I just want to send you one big thank you.
You have answered some of my silly questions and I want you to know how pleased I am and thankful.
I want to send you a thank you every time but do not want to clog you inbox so this is for all the past and future hints.

Thanks so much you are appreciated.
Oh the new newsletter is fantastic!!!
Rosemarie Wood
Lanoka Harbor NJ

Anonymous said...

Hey Gina, just wanted to tell you what a great job you are doing with the newsletter. Keep up the good work. Also love the new PDF format of the November newsletter, is there anyway to get the October one in PDF? I like to save them to read on boring business trips. Thank you for all of your hard work.--Rik Thomas Tennessee,USA

Unknown said...

Hi,

You can download the October pdf from the link below:
October Newsletter

Best Wishes
Gina

Anonymous said...

Just love your stuff
Read it at 2 AM made me smile!
Thank you
Pam

Anonymous said...

Dear Gina:

I don't know if you'll receive this email but, I wanted to thank you for the monthly newsletter. It is inspirational and full of great ideas and stories and photos. I just really wanted you to know that this chicken lady from Texas appreciates your hard work!

Jenny