The quality of air
It occurred to me yesterday, those of us who rescue ex-battery hens often talk of how they can then enjoy sky, sun, weather, worms, and so on… But we never make mention of the air.
Whether we keep chickens in towns and cities or the countryside, the air quality they take into their lungs from the moment they get out of the cages and out of the sheds in which those cages are kept, is massively improved over what they became used to from the moment they were hatched and carried on conveyor belts to be sorted, the poorly and disabled ones, and the males, removed like weeds.
tags: air quality, ammonia, animal cruelty, animals, battery hens, broiler hens, intensive farming, livestockThe sad and happy story of one ex-battery hen
I noticed yesterday that Hyacinth, one of our ex-battery hens, was sleeping during the day, which is quite unusual, out in the enclosure. She was clearly not in any pain, eyes closed, close to the ground, while the other hens wandered around her. She was left well alone.
Later, she went to bed in the coop around 6pm—around two hours earlier than the young ones go to bed, and four hours before her three fellow ex-bats. She displayed none of her usual skittishness when I picked her up and stroked her, and made none of her usual catalogue of sounds then, or today. She has been, and is, completely silent. But again, she seems not to be in any pain. She gives the impression of being worn out, simply exhausted.
tags: birds, ex-battery hens, intensive farming, livestock, pets, poultry
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