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Rehoming Battery Hens

Rehoming Battery Hens

Articles and guides about rehoming battery hens.

Table of Contents:

Articles are grouped in topics as follows:

  1. Rehoming Battery Hens
  2. Welfare

Ex-commercial hens are often referred to as ex-battery hens, although the UK banned battery cages and introduced larger, enriched colony cages in 2012. These days, organisations rehoming battery hens can rescue them from various farming systems, including barn, free-range and colony cage systems. Sadly, hens are only commercially viable for 18 months at the most. 

Commercial egg production units need laying hens to be at the peak of their production to be viable. Pullets (young hens) come into lay, and artificial lighting will keep them laying, typically for 72 weeks, whatever the season. 

By contrast, hens in our back garden, under natural daylight, will moult during the autumn as the daylight hours decrease. They will rest from laying while replacing their feathers; however, their commercial counterparts continue to lay eggs under their continuous lighting regime. Laying eggs for such a long time puts enormous demands on a hens body, and eventually, production rates start to fall off slightly.

Ex-battery hens are worth very little, often ending up in pet food or cheaper products containing chicken, such as pies. Unless, of course, we rehome them! And thousands of people are doing just that through battery hen rehoming organisations who purchase hens from British farmers and sell them back garden chicken keepers. Recycling at its very best!

This category aims to provide you with everything you need to know about rehoming battery hens so they can have a happy free-range retirement. 

Rehoming Battery Hens

From finding a rehoming organisation for ex-commercial hens near you to finding out how to look after your girls to help them be happy and healthy in their free-range retirement.

Ex-Battery Hens For Sale

Ex-Battery Hens For Sale

Where to find ex-commercial or ex-battery hens for sale, usually for very modest donations from several rehoming organisations across the UK.

Tips Rehoming Battery Hens

Tips on Rehoming Ex-Battery Hens

In this article, Jo shares her tips on rehoming ex-battery hens so you can learn more about this rewarding and life-enhancing experience.

Rehoming Battery Hens FAQ

Rehoming Battery Hens FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions: from coop and run size, what you’ll need to buy and feed these special ladies, and other general care questions new owners have about rehoming battery hens.

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Battery Hen Welfare

To be commercially viable, battery hens must produce a large number of eggs in a short time. Many of them that produce ‘Cage Eggs’ are kept in confined spaces and don’t see daylight. Before 18 months old, they are replaced. If they aren’t rehomed, they get slaughtered. 

Ex Battery Hen

The Plight of the Battery Hen

For those of us that raise and nurture our own hens, the world of intensive chicken farming is a million miles away. But for the

Life-of-Ex-Battery-Hen

The Life of a Battery Hen

So what has life been like for the hens you re-home? Well, we have all heard about the dreaded battery cage that typically houses 4

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