hens wanted

Dale · hens wanted

nothing special just 2 or 3 hens which lay eggs if anyone has any for sale please.

Julie

There's a member who regularly looks to rehome ex battery hens who might be helpful. They may not be as productive as POL pullets but if they're free then it sort of counteracts the costs.
I ought to say though that there is a high probability of ending up with a bunch of vent peckers, feather pullers or egg eaters if you take that route so be warned. The second lot of ex batterys we had (years ago) we ended up necking over half of them because they were just incurable egg eaters. Deep litter birds tend to be a bit better but caged birds can acquire some very bad habits because they are permanently bored.

Sassinak

I think some of the problem with ex-caged birds is that their eggs normally roll away and so they never see them. It's curiosity that starts the pecking and since they often lay softer shelled eggs because they will usually be coming into moult when they are emptied out of the cages coupled with the stress of moving them, the egg which is pecked at might break and they discover that there is tasty stuff inside !!!
The last couple of lts that I've had have been great and at the moment I'm getting about 9 eggs a day from 12 of them and most of the eggs are enormous

beardies

We have some ex "free range" hens from another rescued hen, you should PM Derek & Pauline. Ours were laying within a few weeks and love their outdoor life (the "free range" bit appears to be a myth) and all deserve an excellent home.

PurpleDragon

The hens we recently got that were ex-'farm' (I'm not sure if they were considered barn or battery) are fabulous.

They are dead friendly - will peck out of my hand which even the hens I have for years won't do! They still look flippin awful - like they are in perpetual moult - but they are healthy and lay every single day, and their eggs have been complimented by everyone who has had any.

I would not hesitate to take these sort of hens again.

Julie

It's a nice cheap way to get started and they usually earn their keep, but that lot we had were queuing up when a hen went in to lay so they could be first in to eat the egg. They absolutely relished a mustard egg - even one laced with cayenne pepper as well!!
I wouldn't count myself any kind of friend if I didn't warn about the potential problems as well as the plusses. All I was saying is it's best to find out their origins first, don't buy a pig in a poke, as they say because egg eating is the most harmless of the bad habits they can display.