During my research of battery hens, I came across a very sweet and wonderful aspect of the laying hen story. I was very weighted down with the lives these poor little birds are forced to live, and then I came across the information that there are people out there who re-home hens that have reached the end of their commercial laying lives. (Usually around 18 months). At this point the hens are sent for slaughter, to be made
Beautiful hens in warm sweaters.
into pet food etc. Some very blessed hens however get their first chance at living a life of freedom, a life every chicken should be able to live from the very beginning. Now they can stretch their wings, feel the sun shining on them, have dust baths, and just run around in a clean and spacious environment. Thanks to caring and compassionate individuals, these little hens who have only been valued for their eggs, now have a chance to just be themselves. They are chickens that need help, and there are good people out there who want to help them.
Most of the hens have significant feather loss from their horrible living conditions, and so they are more likely to become chilled and sick. So, a wonderful idea has been thought of…chicken sweaters! 🙂 Many wonderful people have taken the time to knit or crochet pretty sweaters to keep these lovely hens warm while they grow their feathers back. I have been thinking I would like to do the same, and send them to organizations that deal with rescue hens. I crochet, so I know I could learn a pattern for a chicken sweater. So far, I have found far more about re-homing hens in the U.K., but I’m sure I can find something in Canada.
Here is a link to the website of a wonderful organization that is helping hens in the U.K. :
Here is a video showing one group in the U.K. who has helped these beautiful hens by giving them sweaters. The birds seem to really take to the sweaters, and I know they help a lot.
My pretty black hen is all better. 🙂 The olive oil and crop massaging seemed to have worked. Last night she didn’t seem any different than the day before, but this morning when I checked her, her crop was empty and she was no longer moving her head back and forth. I just came back from up at the barn, and her crop is still pretty empty. She does have access to food and she is alert and acting normal, but if she is taking it easy today it’s probably for the best. I am going to keep monitoring her to make sure she’s alright. I am very grateful she’s doing better. 🙂
Here’s a link to a page that gives a bit of information on the issue of impacted crop. It mentions surgery, but of course it is a last resort, and thankfully I did not have to do that myself.
Here is the video I said I would post. I took it this evening. Before I left for work this morning I gave my hen some more oil and massaged her crop, and I did so again when I got home from work, but there still doesn’t seem to be a lot of improvement. I’m not sure how much she ate today either. Although she does seem interested in food and in her surroundings, I am worried that she will not be able to process her food properly.
Anyway, I will continue to care for her as best I can, and I hope she gets better soon.
One of my hens has what I believe to be an impacted crop. Yesterday I noticed that she was moving her head and neck around from side to side as birds will sometimes do when they eat too much too fast. I thought this was why she was doing so then, but this morning I realized she was still doing it, and her crop was still full. She had not eaten all night and her crop should have been empty, but instead it was hard and full. So, I did a search on Google to see what I could do to help her. I read that vegetable oil or olive oil sometimes assist in loosening whatever is compacted inside the crop. I used an eye dropper as suggested and gently massaged her crop. It felt kind of like her crop was becoming softer, and I repeated this procedure several times throughout the day.
So far it still seems like there is quite a bit in there, but I gave her some more oil tonight as it was getting dark and all the birds were settling down for the night. I also decided that I would only give her water and no food just for today, to see if her crop would successfully empty. I will check her in the morning to see if everything has passed out of the crop.
I took a short video showing her neck moving behaviour, but it isn’t the right format, so I will try to take another tomorrow if she still has the problem. (I hope she doesn’t of course). I also noticed a bit of odour which apparently can happen with sour crop, but I still believe it’s not sour crop, because she seems to have a blockage, and everything else points more to her having an impacted crop.
One of the more extreme and last resort treatment options I came across was surgery. An incision is made through the skin and then through the crop and the contents are gently pulled out and the crop flushed clean. Of course I would never even consider doing this unless my hen was going to die if I did nothing. I have sewed up many such wounds on my birds in the past, and they have healed, but I would be very leery to do a procedure like this unless it was absolutely my only remaining option. I found a video that shows this procedure being done. There isn’t much blood involved, but it is still a surgery, so please don’t watch it if this kind of thing makes you squeamish.
This is a video I took in April of 2010. I used incubators to hatch some chicks for Easter that spring. I love being able to witness the miracle of new life. It never gets old seeing a brand new baby bird come into the world. I’ve watched so many little birds hatch and I always think of how amazing it is that they do such a difficult thing at the very beginning of their lives. It takes a lot of work for a little bird to crack through the shell and get itself out of the egg, and they just by nature know what to do to get out. I’ve had to help a few over the years, (which is always a last resort), but of course I very much prefer when they can do it all themselves, like this one did. 🙂
Well, tomorrow is the 2nd day of our annual Fall Fair. For about 8 years I was involved helping with chick hatching and taking care of the birds. I even gave a short interview on the local radio station one year. I loved every minute of all the years I was able to help out there. It was so rewarding to show people that chickens are beautiful animals, and they can even make great pets. 🙂
Fancy Pants at 1 year old - Summer 2010
Last year I didn’t help out, and I didn’t think I was going to get to this year either. I worked today, but my mom and dad went to the fair grounds to help out, and they talked to our veterinarian, (he is very involved with the bird aspect of the fair), and he said I can help him out tomorrow. So, I am very excited! I decided I am going to bring my rooster, Fancy Pants. He was actually hatched during the fair two years ago, so he will be going back to where he was born. (Not that he knows that.) 😉
Fancy Pants as a baby- Summer/Fall 2009
So, I gave him a nice bath today, which he enjoyed, and I dried him with the blow-dryer so he wouldn’t get chilled. He had never had a bath before, but he was very calm and relaxed through all of it. Then I let him walk around the yard for awhile, and later we went up on the deck, and he sat with me for at least half an hour, he is such a quiet bird. 🙂
He’s a cochin, and they tend to be a quieter breed of chicken. They are also probably my favourite breed. I love their feathery legs. Tomorrow Fancy Pants goes on an adventure. I will be sure to take pictures, and perhaps even some video.:)
I spent most of the day up at the barn working on taking down tarps in the old chicken pen/granary. My mom’s little black turken spent most of the day with me. (She may officially be my mom’s, but since I take care of her and spend time with her, really…she’s more mine. ) 😀 She’s very sweet and she comes over to see me and makes these quiet little peeping sounds. I will have to put a video of her up soon.
While I was up at the barn, I looked over, and a number of my chickens had decided to have a dust bath in front of my dad’s skidder. They looked so cute kicking up the dust and rolling around. I could watch them for hours, they always make me smile. Seeing them happy makes me happy. 🙂
I haven’t gotten a video of my birds dust bathing yet, but I did find a cute one on Jess & Krista’s blog. Here it is.
Last night I was finishing up my first video and looking for other videos to add to my YouTube Channel, when I can across some amazing chickens. The videos were mostly shot at “Chicken Camps” hosted by Bob Bailey & his wife Marian. They are dog trainers and their belief is that, “if you can train a chicken, you can train anything.” So, they use chickens to improve and strengthen the skills of other dogs trainers and owners.
I have owned and raised chickens for most of my life, and I was so surprised at these videos. I knew, or at least had hear, that chickens could be trained to perform simple tasks, but I wasn’t aware that they were capable of so much. In the videos the birds, are trained through positive reinforcement and operant conditioning to do certain things. They are able to discriminate between colours and shapes and do a sequence of steps in a certain order.
Here is a link to Legacy Canine’s “Chicken Camp” web page. It has information outlining what the camp is about and why and how they work with chickens.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this, because so many people, even those who have owned chickens for years, don’t realize how much they are capable of. I mean, they can tell the difference between at least 4 different shapes and 3 different colours! That makes them at least as intelligent as dogs on some levels.
Also, these hens appear to be leg-horns, which are the same ones used in the egg industry. It just drives home the point that these are thinking, feeling, intelligent creatures that deserve a happy and healthy life, filled with love and stimulation. They are not some brainless animal with no feelings that should just be crammed in a cage and never be able to see the sun, run around and be a carefree animal. This abuse really needs to stop. (There, I had to get that out).
Here is one of my favourite videos, you can watch more on my YouTube Channel under the “Amazing Birds” playlist.
I made a video of my birds today! This is my first video project I have edited like this, and while it isn’t perfect, I am proud of it. 🙂 I think it shows just how happy my birds are.
The rooster at the very start of the video is Fancy Pants. I named him that because of his feathery legs. (He’s a cochin). The hen that’s looking up at the nesting box is Henny Penny. The mother hen’s name is Chikoh, I still have to name her baby. Chikoh is part Silkie and part English Game Hen. Disco is the duck that’s standing outside the pen, (the first duck in the video). You can also see a little turken and my guinea fowl. 🙂
Any way, I hope you enjoy the video. I would have kept the original audio, but it was choppy since I edited it. I think the music is pretty anyway.
I also discovered some amazing videos of chickens tonight. You can watch them on my YouTube Channel in the “Amazing Birds” playlist. I will post more about them tomorrow.
I have been helping my dad with our new duck/chicken pen for awhile now. I’ve done most of the staining and the pen is nearly finished. The doors just need to go on and be painted, which I am doing today.
It’s a nice pen, spacious and well built. I know our birds will love it.
I will take some photos of the pen as well as of the birds. I also want to get some videos to share. 🙂
Until then, here is another cute video I found. It’s so sweet to see the mommy talking to her little babies and the babies talking with her. How can anyone not see that chickens are very social and form bonds and relationships like all other animals do?
I can’t help but contrast this video with what goes on in so many hatcheries. All these babies want is warmth and protection. (Notice how they go under mommy to stay warm and safe). So many poor little ones are denied this kind of care.
I just want to add though that I realize many chicks and other baby birds are hatched in incubators and therefore have no hen to go with. I myself have hatched birds in this way. I don’t believe it’s wrong so long as they are kept warm and safe and protected as they would be if they had a mother bird. They do very well on their own actually and they bond with the other babies. That being said, I have always preferred to hatch birds naturally so that they do have a mother, that is clearly the best way and the way God intended it to be.
Mother hens are in many ways one of the best mothers in the animal kingdom. They will often die protecting their young and they are very affectionate and attentive to their chicks. I have had many hens fly at me while I am giving them food or water, because they perceived me as a threat and were trying to protect their babies. They really will stand up to anything that they believe may harm their chicks.
The Bible has a beautiful verse which I am sure most people have heard:
“Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” – Matthew 23:37
God, who made these wonderful animals is using the mothering nature of the hen to describe how He feels toward His people. I think that is a beautiful thing. There truly are elements of who God is in the creatures He has made, to me this also mean they have exceptional value. To know that we can look at a mother hen with her little ones and see a bit of God, is amazing. 🙂
Love the Birds 