Rescue & Adoptions

2005 Featured Rescues

35 Brown "Layer" Hens Escape Slaughter

Mona and 34 other brown layer hens were weak and sickly when they arrived at Farm Sanctuary. Many of the hens were suffering from severe feather loss and respiratory infections. They were also grossly underweight, infested with lice and had been brutally debeaked and detoed at a battery cage facility. Judging by their appearance and their ages, all of the hens were what the egg industry would call "spent" hens, or hens no longer in production. Had they not been rescued, Mona and her friends would soon have been trucked off to slaughter.

Sadly, brown layer hens like Mona, who many think look more natural or "wild" than their white-feathered cousins, are commonly raised in very crowded, unnatural conditions. Brown layer breeds like the Rhode Island Red and the New Hampshire are regularly confined in battery cages, just as are white hens. Despite what many of us have always believed, brown eggs are no more healthy, natural or likely to be from "free-range" hens than are white eggs. Certain breeds lay brown eggs and certain lay white eggs. Regardless of what breed they are, the vast majority of laying hens in the United States (more than 90 percent) are confined for their entire lives to cages so small they cannot lie down comfortably or stretch their wings.

Even those birds purported to be "free-range" hens often live in miserable confinement. Because no laws or official government standards regulate the use of terms such as "free-range," and because the USDA relies on producer testimonials to determine whether animals are free-roaming or not, many meat and egg producers can claim that their birds are humanely raised, but still keep them in conventional cages or crowded sheds. Hens declared "free-range" still frequently undergo cruel, painful procedures such as "debeaking" and "detoeing" to prevent pecking and scratching. And even the most humanely raised, authentically "free-range" hens are still butchered when their production levels drop.

Thankfully, Mona and her friends never had to see the inside of a slaughterhouse. Here at our New York Shelter they recovered well and were given the chance to know love and kindness. Sadly, Mona has since passed away. Many of her friends rescued in this case, however, continue to thrive. After all they have been through, sanctuary life is a dream come true for these beautiful hens.