Ariel

They tried to find anything they could on the free range egg shed floor to eat….rocks, dirt, anything. Everyone else had been sent to slaughter. About 30 hens had been missed in the slaughter pick up. They were left with no water and no food. The shed doors were left open and foxes were coming in and making each poor girl who was left into their nightly meal. The crumpled beer cans from the workers were stacked up against the shed door.

The first night we were there we took some girls with us. The second night my friend went back and found most of the remaining girls pilled up outside the shed with their necks broken. She managed to find the few hens who had hidden and escaped this fate and brought them home. Ariel was one of these girls. She is named Ariel after “The Little Mermaid” because she is obsessed with water. After being without water for so long, she now never goes far from it.

The workers drank beer, laughed and broke the necks of these hens whilst all these poor girls wanted was just a bit of water. The kind of person who can do such a thing is not the kind of person I ever want to know.

Free range egg laying hens are killed at 18 months old. Just 18 months old. Chickens can live up to 10 years old. Basically what I am saying here is that if you are supporting the free range egg industry, you are actually supporting the slaughter of all these beautiful, clever, special little birds.