Animal Place Rescues 3,000 Hens from Egg Factory Farm

Starting this week, 3,000 egg-laying hens will be given a second chance at life. It will be their first opportunity to feel grass under their feet, the sun on their backs, and the ability to walk around and fully stretch their wings out beyond the confines of a tiny and overcrowded wire battery cage.

Thanks to Animal Place, a California-based farmed animal sanctuary, along with their partnering shelters and sanctuaries, these birds were rescued from a massive egg factory farm in Southern California. The rescued hens, all of whom have spent their lives in cages, are about two years old — that’s still a young age for chickens, but on factory farms by age two they’re considered “spent” which means they no longer produce enough eggs to be deemed as profitable to keep. Typically, spent hens are gassed to death.

Upon arriving at the sanctuaries, these lucky girls will get a full health check-up, access to green pastures, and lots of TLC. Eventually they’ll be transferred to other sanctuaries, shelters, and permanent adoptive homes. One thousand of them will even be flown to New York to live at Catskill Animal Sanctuary, Farm Sanctuary, Lollypop Farm, and Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Have you been thinking about opening up your home and heart to rescued farmed animals? Fill out an adoption form today!

This rescue effort, which is no small feat, is not only changing the lives of 3,000 birds. The extensive media coverage,  is exposing countless people to the miseries forced upon egg-laying hens in factory farms.

Large animal rescues like this are not new to Animal Place. Last year, they saved 4,460 hens from a Turlock, California egg factory farm that had abandoned over 50,000 caged birds, leaving them without food for more than two weeks. By the time these hens were found, nearly 20,000 had already died. Those who managed to survive were suffering from starvation and dehydration and were also stuck in cages with the rotting corpses of other birds. The story was captured in a powerful documentary and animal cruelty charges were eventually filed against the owners of the facility.

These stories highlight the painful realities kept hidden behind the closed doors of animal agribusiness — and remind us that the best way we can express our compassion for all animals is simply by choosing meat-, egg-, and dairy-free foods. Start today, visit TryVeg.com for recipes and tips.