Information on these hens
Your hens have been kept in cages around the size of A3 pieces of paper, they are not alone but with 4-5 others. They can have caged or slated floors. Those from caged floors will usually have extremely long nails.
In January 2012 the cages change to enrichment cages which are larger with perches.
Your hens, until their release haven't seen natural light, and quite often kept mostly in dim light to keep them calm and to stop them fighting under the stress.
LHR strongly recommends feeding ex battery hens Layers Mash for the first week at least. They would starve rather than eat pellets or corn simply because they don't associate it with food. Once eating well from their feeders start to introduce pellets or corn if that's what you prefer to feed them. If not they will be quite content eating layers mash for the rest of their lives.
Your hens will usually have some bald spots, and a small amount can be completely bald. This depends on which farm they are from, the set up, the amount of hens and other factors. The difference usually is that the caged and barn hens have larger, paler, and floppy combs. They soon redden up, but their combs take longer to shrink down. It is believed that the combs are large due to the heat inside the farms, they release heat through them.
Once you get your hens home you will need to put them in their coop opening pop hole and allowing them into an enclosed penned area, or run until they adjust to their new surroundings. They will come across as very scatty and quite frightened of almost anything the first few days.
Please watch carefully that your hens are drinking this is very important, as they have different drinking systems in farms. Hens will not be used to drinking from bowls. Splashing water, and/or dipping beaks into bowl so they taste the water will get them drinking again.
After having them in an enclosed area with regular supply of fresh water for a few weeks, you can allow them to freerange if you want to or into their larger run or area, be sure they are all taking themselves back to hen house/coop at dusk first.
Continue supervision of your hens, if you are worried view or medical advice page or email us direct via contact us page.
Your new hens may to go off lay the first few weeks, but soon start laying again once settled. You should get regular eggs, especially if girls are on varied diet of layers mash or layers pellets, greens and mixed corn.
You may find that the first few weeks they are clumsy with their eggs, they lay them anywhere and they are likely to stand on or peck at them. This phase will pass, and they will lay in nest box like any other hen.
If you find egg breaking continues past
the first few weeks then please refer to
> Medical Advice< page
Your hens will soon forget they were ever in a battery/barn farm! They nest, scratch, and sunbathe like any other hen.
Mixing them with your original chickens
If you have hens, intergrating new hens can be very difficult. The best way to introduce safely is by sectioning off part of the run, or allow you original hens out to freerange allowing new hens to be in run in the day, then putting new birds into coop at night is supposed to work.
There will naturally be a little scuffle to assert the pecking order. Watch carefully the first few days to make sure nobody is getting seriously injured or is going without food/water.
If this is the case you may have to pen off the ex battery hens close by to allow a gentle introduction then allow them into a larger area so they can get away from each other.
With a larger flock you will need a separate
safety pen next to your original flock, to allow
gentle introduction.
If you are able, mixing a few of your original hens in with newbies, allowing them to settle and bond, then a few more. Eventually mixing them all in the area you want them in.
Anti-peck spray works well too, the one we found to work best is 'Scarper' available online, or at our shop on collection day. Usually around £10 a can.