Autumn

Autumn and Summer came to us when they were four weeks old. They were rescued from an intensive meat chicken factory. Chickens from these factories are called “broiler chickens”. Broiler chickens are selectively bred to grow as fast as possible in the shortest amount of time as possible. What this means for the poor baby chickens is that their bodies are bigger than they can physically handle. They are bred to be slaughtered at 5-7 weeks old. They are the chickens you see in your supermarket or your local take-away shop.

These two little ladies are currently growing up inside the house until they get strong enough to hold their own with the other hens outside. Everyday they get taken outside into their enclosure to enjoy the sunshine and the air, two things they were denied since birth in the factory farm. I showed them dirt on their second day with us and put some on their bodies. Summer got so excited and started grabbing grass and trying to scratch dirt at the same time. They never had a mother that they were allowed to meet to teach them all the things that are important to chickens like dust bathing and foraging. They lived in a dark shed which smelt of ammonia and sat in faeces and urine all day surrounded by so many other poor chickens that they could hardly move. Many of the chickens around them would’ve been sick or dead from such things as heart failure, lameness and starvation.

Animals Australia recently featured broiler chicken Autumn on their website. They wrote about her in a heartwarming piece that made me (and many others) cry. You can see the full feature here – http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/factory-farmed-rescue-chicken-autumn.php

This is Autumn’s story
(written by the amazing Karen Nilsen from Animals Australia)

“This is Autumn. She is quiet, but when she chirps, she sounds like a baby. She never knew her mother, but constantly seeks comfort and protection from those around her.Until recently, the only life she knew was inside the walls of a factory farm. She never saw the sun. She had no room to move, and lay in faeces covered litter every hour of every day.Autumn was valued only for how much meat she could produce. Her body was bred to grow many times faster than nature intended. At just 30 days old, she already carries the weight of an adult, and struggles to walk.

Chickens like Autumn are not designed to live past six weeks. Soon Autumn is likely to succumb to lameness or heart failure. But in her last weeks or months, she is discovering what brings joy and meaning to her life. Her eyes close in delight whenever the sun hits her face. She has developed a profound love for watermelon. Yesterday, she learned to dust bathe…

She enjoys time with her feathered companions. In fact, she becomes distressed if she and her best friend Summer lose sight of one other.Last week the chickens Autumn grew up with were packed into crates and trucked to slaughter. This week they will be on supermarket shelves.

Autumn lives on, and if you share this, so will her story.She is someone, not something.”

Below is a gallery of Autumn and Summer which I’ll continue to update as they grow up in a world of freedom.

Please don’t use my images without permission. All images are Copyright Tamara Kenneally.