[storme37]

hi my wife decided to save 4 so we go to biggin hill tomorrow to collect them

[min200]

Good luck!! Nothing like getting your first hens 

[storme37]

hi we already got hens she just thought we should save some

[Lindeggs]

Well done and good luck with them.

But just be very careful about integrating the new hens with your old ones.  Usually you need to be careful about not bringing diseases in with the new hens, but in your case you will also need to be very careful about spreading things from your old hens to your new ones!  

I'm not suggesting that your old hens have anything wrong with them, just that ex-battery hens can have very weak immune systems.  They have lived in stressful conditions and have never been exposed to all the normal things that lurk in the soil in the great outdoors.

So ideally you would keep the two flocks apart for a while, and (in a perfect world) you would keep the ex-batts on fresh soil that had never had poultry living on it, until they have time to build up some strength.

Good luck with your venture.  I admire people who take on ex-batts with all their potential health issues, and I hope you can give them a happy home for the rest of their lives.

[storme37]

they will be kept in 2 different locations for a month the battery's will be in my garden so we can keep an eye on them and get them strong before they go to the main chicken area.

[bantam novice]

Good luck with your new arrivals 

[storme37]

ok we got them and when i got home i made them a temporary home for a month until they well enough to join the others.

heres the 1st pics

[storme37]

to be honest the 4 we got did not look to bad, there were 400 of these creatures and if the rspca found 400 of any other creature looking like this someone would be prosicuted

[bantam novice]

Well it looks as if the ones you have will now have a very different life in five star accommodation.  Well done for rescuing them and keep us posted.  It is good to see how they feather up and start to behave like chickens again.  Good Luck 

[storme37]

i hope so i will double the size of this run today then in 1 month they can run free on the land like the others

[Sausages1983]

Hi everyone,

I live in Caerphilly, South Wales and myself and my family are really keen to rescue some ex battery hens. We were due to collect some from the BHWT but it was cancelled as the farmer wanted to keep them for longer as they are laying well. :-( We were so disappointed - we've got a lovely house for them in the garden; all the food and bedding they need and no ladies to put in there! Can anyone advise where else we can rescue some hens from? Internet searches have so far been a bit useless ...

Thank you and we hope to hear from someone soon.

Sara and family

[NormandyMary]

As you will all know from my many recent posts, I am without birds at the moment. Yesterday, after advertising for free range eggs, I visited a smallholding to buy some. The owner was just going down to collect the days eggs so I went down with her. I was amazed to see that at least half of her girls were ex-batts.
They were still producing regularly for her and were obviously leading the good life now. It turns out that she gets them from a town not far from where we live. Ive always wanted to do "my bit" for these poor creatures and now it looks like I may get my chance. Ive just brought the subject up with OH as it will mean another henhouse, as reading above, they will need to be kept separate for a while. Ill be working on him a little bit everyday till he thinks it was his idea!

[NormandyMary]

Update on previous post. OH is more than happy for us to give some exbatts a good loving home. We are already pondering on their special needs. We have a small henhouse which was our maternity unit, I think we will just adapt it to put in a couple of nesting boxes. Will we need perches, after all, batts dont perch normally do they?

[storme37]

hi guys i improved the short term  housing for them

[joyfull]

Update on previous post. OH is more than happy for us to give some exbatts a good loving home. We are already pondering on their special needs. We have a small henhouse which was our maternity unit, I think we will just adapt it to put in a couple of nesting boxes. Will we need perches, after all, batts dont perch normally do they?

they will need low perches and the no steps where they can injure themselves when they jump down - they could have brittle bones and be very weak. They will have had every vaccination available but won't have been exposed to any outside illnesses. Just remember ex-batts can die shortly after release through stress - they have never been outside and allowed any space. You may get quite a bit of aggression between them as they will have had to fight for everything.
But watching them grow into chickens who are happy digging away and wrecking your garden is just wonderful so congratulations storme37 and Normandy Mary