LINCS LITTLE HENS- More about the hens

Ex Battery hens are very close to our hearts. On our pictures page you have probably seen some of our own rescued hens and others that we brought back for other previously. They are in various stages of new feather growth. Some from the most recent rescues still have bald bits and look tufty, whereas the ones who've been here a while are fully feathered and the only sign of them ever being battery birds are their prominent breastbones which never seem to fatten up.

Ex battery hens make excellent pets. By rehoming some (usually we'd recommend at least a trio to begin with) you are saving them from certain death and giving them a chance to live as chickens should do. (Warning though-they are addictive so buy a hen house big enough for more than 3 hens ) You will watch your hens bloom from being scraggy and featherless to fully feathered and gorgeous, they will start to come and feed from your hand and you'll think "We really ought to save more....."

In a battery farm, they only ever see artificial light. They live in cramped cages and often only have the space of an A4 sized piece of paper to stand on throughout their lives. They stand on wire mesh which is painful and don't have any roosting perches. They are on the farm purely to produce eggs and when their supply lessens, they are outed in favour of new birds. These hens are only around a year old and have much more life left.

When you rescue ex batts, you'll be surprised how they instinctively know how to enjoy a dust bath, even though they've never seen soil before. They'll peck in the grass for worms and look up at birds and aeroplanes flying overhead as they've never seen anything above before (except more and more cages)

In weeks, these hens grow back beautiful plumage and are trusting and friendly family pets. They've only ever been fed layers meal (commonly known as mash) but they'll go crackers for dried mealworms and tinned sweetcorn and many other treats too.

We hope you will consider rehoming some of your own. They do still lay plenty of very tasty eggs (tastier than from when they were in the farm as they are now heathier birds with a better diet and sunlight in their lives), just maybe one less egg per week each, but it makes them no longer commercially viable for the farmers. The farmers are only interested in the business side of it, therefore the hens are replaced.