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Anonymous09/01/26, 00:24No.5157215The ex-battery hen who got to grow old
Gretel is an 8 year old ex-battery hen. As she ages we listen to her and adapt her care accordingly.
This morning Gretel did a great, big hop in the sun and flapped her wings as if she were about to take off. Five minutes earlier she had been barely awake in my arms, breathing slow, tired breaths. I had just crop fed her some avian crittercare to help her keep weight on, applied soothing cream to her dried out comb and kissed her feathery little head. Then I carried her outside, set her down on the grass, and as the sun hit her it seemed to fill her with a boost of joyful energy.
>pic related Gretel a week after rescue and Gretel a few years after rescue.
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Anon09/01/26, 00:26No.5157217
The first time I held Gretel in my arms was when I lifted her from a battery cage in early 2020. I guess she was about a year and a half old. She had a broken wing. Breaks were common at that farm. The hens were so calcium-deficient that bones snapped easily with the rough handling of the workers or perhaps a fight with another suffering hen. After rescue Gretel received vet treatment and a snazzy bandage. Before long, you couldn’t tell anything had ever been wrong.She is eight now. It’s rare we get someone who reaches six and a half years free. It feels like a small miracle.In 2023 Gretel was diagnosed with an inoperable tumour that had started in the reproductive system. No surprises there. These girls are selectively bred to lay way more eggs than their bodies can handle. She had already been to the vet to receive meds, but a day came soon after when she stood hunched with her eyes closed. Her feathers all fluffed up. She looked so sick and unhappy. When I called the vet they said there wasn’t much else we could do and recommended we euthanise her. He was kind about it, and at the time I agreed. She had no quality of life, as far as I could see.>pic related The end of Gretel’s hop this morning.
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Anon09/01/26, 00:32No.5157221
original posthttps://nswhenrescue.substack.com/p/the-ex-battery-hen-who-got-to-grow
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Anon09/01/26, 00:43No.5157224
built for KFC
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Anon09/01/26, 03:47No.5157261
15 years is the oldest hen ive had.
A couple more hit 14.
Half a dozen have gone to 13.
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Anon09/01/26, 04:08No.5157262
Waste of good meatI always kill them at 1 because any older and the eggs taste like shit and there’s a good chance they’ll be cannibalized once wounded. Eggs are actually not very useful and you’re far better off eating the actual chickens, btw. The eggs are more like a waste product. Eating more than 2 per person per day is asking for health issues.
>free range btw
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Anon09/01/26, 11:45No.5157284
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Anon09/01/26, 22:16No.5157408
My favorite part is giving the hen drugs so she won't lay eggs and letting her keep on living as a VERY old hen of her type [probably a Red Sex-Link] with a tumor inside of her. I swear, being a 'farm animal rescue' is a joke that keeps on delivering.I own dual purpose chickens and I'm more humane to my birds than this idiot is.