Guest guest Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 Hens that are kept in tiny cages indoors for the mass production of eggs. They're massively overcrowded (I think it's something like 6 or 8 hens in a one metre square cage), have no natural light, no room to stretch, flap their wings etc and it's unbelievably cruel. Often they get so frustrated they start pecking each other's feathers off, and peck each other's combs and vents until they're bleeding, and to stop this, their beaks are chopped off - 'de-beaking'. Horrible. Opalline On Behalf Of Christine08 September 2009 17:21 Subject: quick question! what are "battery hens?" "This e-mail is intended for the recipient only. If you are not theintended recipient you must not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print,or rely upon this e-mail. If an addressing or transmission error hasmisdirected this e-mail, please notify the author by replying to this e-mail." "Recipients should note that all e-mail traffic on MOD systems issubject to monitoring and auditing." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 Hi, it's a terrible practice, the hens start laying at about 5-6 months old and lay in terrible conditions as the other have said until they're about 18 months old. The farmer then gets rid of them as at about that age they become a little unreliable, they might only lay an egg every other day, but naturally they would continue to lay for about another year. But as they're economically unviable they're destroyed and often end up as compost. There's a few really good charities over here that negotiate with the farmer and take on the " spent " hens and rehome with people - I had 4 ex-batts, one only lasted 6 months, another a little longer and the two remaining have been out for 21 months now. They came out bald in places, red raw, with their top beaks trimmed back to stop feather pecking, their combs were dry, pale and enormous from lack of natural light and being kept in constant warmth. To see them feather up and begin to scratch on ground as oppose to slanting metal cages with wire floor which is how the first year and a half of their life was spent, was just amazing. Their egg quality improved greatly too, the shells became thicker, the chickens combs shrunk and became redder, you can hardly tell them from any other hen now. And they are specifically bred for egg production, one a day almost every day, I have some old fashioned breeds and I get two maybe three eggs a week from them, if they can be bothered and none at all from about October til April, because nature wouldn't let a bird breed in deepest winter - hybrids and battery hens lay all year round. Sad but not surprising. www.ciwf.org.uk has horrendous but very good information on farming practices here in the UK and in Europe Sorry to go on, I love my chickens, they're daft, funny, affectionate and very underestimated Bex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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