Chicken Rescue from Sheffield Animal Friends

Hi,

I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the chicken rescue last week, it was a huge success. Whether you helped prepare boxes, donated money, donated resources, provided a home for some chickens, helped promote the rescue or travelled to Brighton for the rescue itself - your contributions were completely invaluable. It was quite a mammoth task, I drove one van 600 miles altogether, and we were busy from morning 'til night. But it was well worth it for the final result. I've attached some pictures from the weekend, you'll see some of the lovely new homes as well as some rather shocking ones of the farm itself.

Next time someone tells you about how wonderful free range, organic farming is, look at the density of chickens in shed 2 - and that's with a fair few of them already out. Not only that but we found some dead and dying birds, many who had clearly been badly bullied by other birds, and all birds had been de-beaked - the result of a very painful procedure. Of course let's not forget that for each chicken, their brother was murdered as a chick. Also, all animals who are farmed for profit are killed after they no longer remain profitable - it was very sad to leave behind the thousands of birds we were not allowed to take.

The birds were all beautiful and reaffirmed all of our wishes to live free from cruelty without the use of animals. I've included below the excellent report from Chris, the driver of the other van we arranged. Much love to you all!

Olly x *************************************

334 Chickens say thank you! Thanks to everyone who helped us bring 338 chickens from death row in Brighton to a new life in Yorkshire. Apart from two injured pigeons and a couple of bunnies we have never re-homed animals before and certainly not on such a massive scale. Everything went really well and we only lost four chickens, three on the journey and one since. We were over whelmed with how many people wanted to give these little creatures a home and if you want to stay on the list for more next time, we will be in touch!

Thanks also for your donations we spent nearly £300 on petrol for the two vans, the chickens have already eaten 3 sacks of feed plus vegetables, 2 bales of straw and 2 bales of sawdust. We have had a couple of visits from the vet as well so your money has been well spent! Any more donations can be sent via Sophie at Hope Pastures or Chris at Lembas. Nearly all the hens are in their new homes now, but a few look like they will need to stay at Hope Pastures for some time. The vet is monitoring Tracy, a chicken whose beak was badly twisted (probably as part of the inhumane de-beaking process) but not properly snapped off. It is obviously painful for her we are hoping she can gain the strength to undergo treatment but the vet may decide it is better to put her to sleep. At least this will be done with care unlike the birds left in Brighton whose death with be both painful and terrifying. The vet is also monitoring two birds who have been treated for rectal prolapse. There is no way of knowing how long these birds were ill amongst the thousands of others they could have been suffering for some time.

Our other two special hens are Kitty and Edith, both doing really well but far too bald and thin to be seen in public. We hope to fatten them up a bit, but in the meantime they are enjoying the hospitality and each others company. Patsy is another skinny lass who is obviously worn out, reluctant to feed or move about much. The other hens were attacking her and she was too weak to fight back so is alone at the moment, enjoying a heat lamp. We have a good home waiting for her as soon as she is well enough to leave. We are so grateful to all the staff at Hope Pastures who have worked so hard and are taking such great care of our chicks.

Massive thanks also to Sheffield Animal Friends for the support, financial assistance and for including us in their mad plans! And to Brighton Animal Action who had the unenviable task of coordinating groups from all over the UK. Each year they save more and more birds from slaughter. We have some footage of inside the farm - it shows what an existence these birds have left. Most people still buy into that myth that free range is 6 birds in a green field. This shows the reality of wire flooring with 14 months worth of shit and piss, dead chickens - some of which were trapped in the egg collecting chute. Stale air and no room to move amongst a sea of chickens. One of our activists saw lice crawling up his arms and the floor was riddled with maggots. In all this chaos sick and injured birds were unnoticed and untreated. Sorry for the rant but can't help myself!

With the Chicken Run over we are shifting the focus to Bunnies, and our celebration of International Rabbit Welfare day on Sunday 28th September at The Common Place in Leeds. We start at 11am with talks on Rabbit Welfare, the Fur trade, Bloodsports and Vivisection. There will also be a discussion on the link between animal and human abuse, as symbolised by the playboy bunny. We are serving Tea, Coffee, Vegan cakes and a buffet lunch, plus the chance to meet a couple of little bunnies who want new homes. Be great to see you all there x