Rescue Ex Battery Chickens

Have you ever wanted chickens? Okay, what about the fresh eggs in the morning if not the chickens?

We are lucky that one of the Airbnb spaces we have (Hobbit House, Edenfield) has ample space for chickens to call home and so we have hosted a flock of chickens for many years. Sadly over the years, we have lost several of our outside pets to Mr Fox and Mrs Mink. Improved security to the run and a patch-up repair gets us ready for the next group but what does it involve?

Chicken Or Not To Chicken, That Is The Question.

Chickens generally do not need a lot of looking after. They need food and water and shelter and if they have those they will live very happily, especially what they have been used to.

What Do You Need?

A Nice House – you need a dry, secure coop to protect them from predators and the elements. The coop should have proper ventilation but be free from drafts and make sure it’s large enough to allow each chicken at least 1.5 to 2 square feet of space. Saw dust that is changed regularly is ideal.

Food and Water – your chickens will need high-quality layer pellets or crumble for a balanced diet, supplemented with some kitchen scraps. They also need access to gravel like grit or small stones to help them digest food properly, as they don’t have teeth. And of course, they need water always available. Both food and water can be provided using plastic chicken feeds hanging from the run.

Lucky Hen Rescue, Wigan

We get our chickens from Lucky Hen Rescue based just outside of Wigan. Their process is really simple. You apply for the chickens ahead of any “rescue date”. Provide details of yourself and your run, you’ll need sizes and an image.

Once a rescue date is confirmed you’ll get invited to confirm you still want to rescue some chickens, be quick they need confirmation

Rescue Day

The chickens are usually rescued the morning of the rescue day, so when you collect them they have typically come from the battery farm that morning and have escaped the slaughterhouse – hooorah!

You need to go with a box, or boxes to carry your new chickens in (we took 2 medium-sized boxes for 8 chickens to give you an idea). Add some newspaper or sawdust to the bottom to help the chickens crip and soak up any chicken poop.

Noise

The chickens might make some noise, especially when they are happily laying an egg but nothing like a cockerel, so you’ll be surprised where chickens can happily live.

Mud

Chickens don’t like water so will generally avoid mud, however, they scratch the ground looking for food so the ground they live on soon becomes bare and can get muddy. We added a roof to our run which keeps the chickens dry, and the ground dry which means you can spend time with the chickens in any weather.

Predators

Keep vigilant. Predators can reach rural and urban chickens alike and will probe the run and coop constantly looking for ways in. We always check the run and coop for any signs of damage or wear and repair them as needed. We also only let the chickens free roam from Spring to Autumn during the day and avoid the darker days in Winter when predators are more likely to be out during the day. Interestingly a chicken stands a good chance of escaping if it can flap up and out of harm’s way so can fare better out of the run if predators are about, we have lost all our chickens because they have been cornered within the run.

Eggs

We found that even though the chickens are rescue chickens and were saved from slaughter this has nothing to do with their laying. The chickens are disposed of when their “year” ages out at around 1.5 years whether they are laying or not laying so expect eggs! Maybe not straight away due to the stress of the move or the time of year, but once settled you can expect eggs daily within 4-6 weeks. ENJOY!

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