The Hennery

I know there’s an awful lot of bad stuff going on and people are donating all over the place to some very worthy organisations, but, if I may, can I draw your attention for a moment to Homes 4 Hens, a rescue centre for ex-battery (also known as caged hens) hens based in Dumfries, Scotland. 

Because of bird flu in the UK right now chickens are having to be kept indoors, which is costing a great deal extra in feed, bedding, and treatment for the hens.

If you can, could you perhaps consider donating to Homes 4 Hens? They do such good work! All my chickens are from there, and above are our latest two - Florence on the left and Meg on the right. They would have been killed if it weren’t for Homes 4 Hens, as would the 17,000 other hens they have rescued.

This is the donation page.

This is their Facebook page.

People often ask, what’s the harm in eating eggs from truly well-loved, happy hens? The harm has roots hundreds of years deep and it doesn’t go away no matter how benevolently we may prune back the more objectionable branches in order to go on reaping the fruits. As contributing author Ashley Capps writes:

“All egg consumption (like all dairy consumption) perpetuates the idea that it is morally acceptable to use animals, and to exploit female reproductive systems. Consuming eggs from any hens sends a harmful message: it normalizes the practice of controlling and commodifying female bodies and reproductive processes, and it legitimizes the practice of breeding sentient animals into existence as property, to exploit them for flesh and secretions we have no biological need to consume. The message we send with our food choices matters.

Chickens were only ever domesticated for one reason: to exploit them. Chickens used for meat and eggs (all breeds) are the result of centuries of violent domination and decades of invasive genetic manipulation that dooms even those lucky enough to be rescued to a lifetime of unnatural frailty and disease. All eggs, even those from happy, rescued hens, are the product of a long line of injustice. There is no way around this. I’s the only reason those hens are here and domesticated today. If we do not support the injustice and violent history that brought them here, then we should logically be rejecting the products of that injustice, and the practice of continuing to take from these animals what does not belong to us; for that mentality of taking is the very mentality that began the injustice in the first place.

Since humans have no biological need to consume eggs, we can withdraw our support from this exploitative industry by choosing plant-based egg alternatives for baking and cooking. Those who rescue hens can feed their eggs back to these birds, who will typically eat them with great enthusiasm, and grind the shells into their feed to restore much needed calcium.”

We explore the hidden harms of so-called “happy egg” consumption in greater detail in our articles:

Backyard Chickens: Expanding Our Understanding of Harmhttp://freefromharm.org/…/backyard-chickens-expanding-unde…/

Eggs: What Are You Really Eating? http://freefromharm.org/eggs-what-are-you-really-eating/