Chicken Rescue
The outdoors pen is empty this morning, on a ‘free-range’ farm in East Sussex. The hens, around 10,000 of them, have been kept in their crowded, stinking, almost pitch-black barn for the last few days, at least; having past the age when they are efficient egg layers, their bodies are of no more use to the farmers. Usually, they are sent to slaughter. This week, as many as possible are being rescued and taken to various sanctuaries and homes across the UK.
The morning’s work involves figuring out how to fit as many hens in the vans as possible without causing the lower boxes to collapse and crush the poor chickens, ventilation is also important to prevent casualties from the heat. There’s not enough time to take all of the hens here, some will be left behind, so these kinds of decisions are heart-breaking.
However, the most disturbing job is catching the girls in the barn. I have been marked by this experience, even though the hens are in far better condition than most; as recent exposés reveal, ‘free-range’ is rather a misnomer, to make a vast understatement. The minor changes in living conditions make little difference to the girls, who should never have been brought to any farm.
Yours eyes have to adjust as you enter the barn, as the light level is so low. I would imagine that it is nearly pitch black with the door closed. Dangling light bulbs are switched on, but I expect that is not usually the case. The only other source of light comes from minute, dirt-caked windows, six foot away from the inner cage walls of the barn. The chickens are packed in, right to the back where they cannot be seen.
The second thing I notice here is the smell. An ammoniac stench fills the air, coming from beneath the filthy bars that the floor is comprised of. Below is a six-foot drop to piles of faeces. My eyes and nose sting, the smell fills your lungs. I cannot imagine how these poor prisoners must suffer.
The hens hop along the bars, when they have the room, between conveyer belts that circulate what counts for food here. Small dishes are also suspended, onto which water is dripped mechanically. Even the laying enclosures in the centre are mechanised – eggs are carried off outside the barn automatically. It seems the farmer rarely has reason to enter and I can’t imagine why he would want to.
The barn, half empty, is still packed with the girls. The huddle in fear away from us, almost crushing each other at times. I notice the chickens in the middle have far paler combs; it appears they rarely reach the edge… ‘Ample room to roam’ – further false advertising. This confirms my suspicion that they rarely, if ever, are allowed outside: Perhaps the outdoors pen is just for the benefit of the inspectors.
I realise how bedraggled some of these poor hens are as we begin catching them to get them out of this hell-hole. Their wings, under-developed, are often lacking feathers. Many have balding and sore patches. In the crowded barn, the hens fight for room. Holding yet another, I feel her sore skin, missing feathers and broken spirit. This is not right.
We are travelling in a van with around 160 of the girls. We’re headed to a sanctuary at the other end of the country; these girls don’t know how lucky they’ve gotten. They stop clucking when we’re moving, perhaps they are in shock at the sensation of movement, but I try not to second guess anything about another animal.
The majority of these fortunate creatures, I hope, will live out their lives in peace, free from exploitation; the horrors of forceful breeding, concentration-camp like barns and the slaughterhouse – they are not objects. I fear that some of them will still be used, and even end up on people’s dinner plates, but without intervention, every one of these helpless being’s screams would go unnoticed.
Along for the ride are two cockerels, as well. They were mistakenly taken to the farm, having been missexed: After a day of life, chicks can be sorted into males and females, at which point the baby boys are fed into industrial-grade blenders, gassed, or otherwise disposed of. They are of no use to the egg industry, and thousands of babies are left to rot in dumpsters daily. But these lucky guys are off to live with 1000 hens!
Today’s journey is a long one, around 300 miles. The girls are hot and won’t get to eat or drink for another few hours. I only hope none of them die of heat exhaustion. Even if that happens, all of them would face certain, horrific death without our intervention. These lucky few have been given another chance, but billions across the globe will know nothing but cruelty and exploitation.
We finally reach our destination at the other end of the country where the chickens can begin their new lives. We unload the boxes quickly, they can’t be kept waiting any longer. They are taken to the coop to find their bearings & recover from the trip. The boxes are opened and the hens are lifted out into their new home, long since overdue. To my great relief there are no casualties; over 160 hens are now free to live on their own terms.
30 minutes later, the doors are opened, and the ladies slowly pour out into the open sunlight, green grass, fresh hay and scattered seeds. Slowly taking their first tentative steps of freedom, they discover they can drink from puddles, peck seeds from the grass and bask in the sunlight, it is as if they are born again! Many find places to hide, they aren’t used to the sunlight and room, but soon adapt to the glories of freedom.
Their journey is complete, they have a new home where nobody will commodity them, take what is theirs and dispose of them after. Their rights will no longer be denied, how lucky they are!
Please take a moment to think about the billions of animals who are still incarcerated and will not be rescued.
Their fate is in the hands of consumers. If meat and animal produce was not bought, exploiters would be out of business. No more animals would be exploited. We have the power to drive these slave-traders out of business. It is our responsibility. Please acknowledge this and go vegan.
At best, welfare reforms serve to further profit exploiters, who then exploit more animals. Farmers can choose to make changes; is welfare, let alone birth-rights, on their priority list at all? This should be the only priority.
Welfare reforms upkeep the paradigm that exploitation is acceptable. ‘Humane’ products provide conscience tokens to consumers, but how can rape, kidnap, abuse & murder for human means ever be compassionate?
Animals suffer, just like we do, and value their own lives – they deserve to be given the same considerations as humans. Like us, they have the birth-right to life, freedom and freedom from suffering.
Please put a stop to the madness: Respect animals’ rights and become vegan. It doesn’t have to happen overnight, gradually is better than not at all. But please do it, for the animals, the environment and for yourself.
They can't stop this - you can!
Billions will not be rescued from genocide
The environment
Cruelty is killing the planet, too.
Animal farming accounts for 18 per-cent of co2 emissions, that’s higher than transport. It causes more damage to eat meat and animal products than to drive a car!
On average, a dairy cow belches 500 litres of methane a day - animal farming causes massive amounts of other greenhouse gasses, too, which could be reduced by 50-60 per-cent by adopting a vegan diet.
18lb of grain is farmed for every 1lb of meat. The grain is low-grade, causing environmental damage through heavy use of artificial pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, soil run off and deforestation.
The animal farming itself causes deforestation and soil run off, as well as slurry that causes water pollution.
Liquid waste from animal farming is hundreds of times more polluting than human sewage.
Animal farming uses 30 per-cent of the Earth's entire land surface for grazing and crops used to feed them.
Going vegan will reduce your carbon emissions by 1.5 tonnes per year, which is a massive amount!
Your health
Meat is laden with saturated fat and cholesterol, renowned for causing circulatory and heart problems. It also contains lots of growth hormones, since livestock are often killed very young. Meat is known to be carcinogenic, too, and many products are high in salt.
A single egg contains most of a person’s maximum daily cholesterol intake, which is strongly linked to heart disease. Also, eggs are responsible for around 10% of cases of salmonella.
Colin Campbell, a top biochemist, said that "cows' milk protein may be the single most significant chemical carcinogen to which humans are exposed". Studies also show that cow’s milk can damage the production of insulin in those at risk of diabetes.
Studies have revealed that milk increases a woman’s risk of osteoporosis, too. Colin Campbell said, ‘The association between the intake of animal protein and fracture rates appears to be as strong as that between cigarette smoking and lung cancer’.
Decades of experience & more than a million vegans today show that a balanced vegan diet supports good health at all stages of life. It greatly reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and many other illnesses. There are even vegan athletes, too. So make the healthy choice!
