Fran

She was found on the floor of this farm in June, 2013. She would have been living on the floor for up to two weeks.

The shed she was in had just been depopulated. Every 18  months, egg farmers send all their hens to slaughter because egg production in hens starts to slow down at this age. Chickens can live up to ten years old, but not in the farming industry. This particular shed had been cleared. Tens of thousands of hens sat in the farmers front paddock, guarded by a dog, waiting for the truck to arrive to take them to their deaths. Their broken and bald bodies shivered in the cold of a June winters night. This happens in all egg farms, regardless of it being free range, organic, barn laid or cage. All hens in farming systems get sent to their deaths at 18 months old. The only thanks they get for their 18 months of imprisonment is death.

After depopulation, there are always hens left in the sheds. Always. These hens are the ones who either escaped the hands of workers, who were thrown onto the floor by workers deliberately or who were deemed to sick to bother with. Fran was one of these girls. She was found barely able to move, crouching on the floor. She hadn’t eaten or had water for about a week and was close to death. She was left behind to die a painful, miserable death.

Fran came to live at Lefty’s Place with a group of other hens from the same farm. They all smelt of death, had broken bones and were starving. Fran was particularly terrified and spent the whole first week hiding behind a nesting box on the floor of the chicken coop. She was incredibly scruffy looking and sickly. Even though she was hiding, she would stick her head out behind the box every now and again and talk back to me. She was so afraid, but really wanted to join in with the rest of the world. She ended up making friends with three newly rescued broiler chicks who had arrived at the same time and eventually came out from behind the box.

From then on, Fran’s transformation began. She began to trust me and talk to me more. In fact, she became one of the biggest talking hens I’d ever had the privilege to care for. Because she was such a big chatterbox, I named her “Fran”, after Fran in the comedy series, “Black Books”. This name suited her to a T.

These days, Fran is one of the top hens in our flock. She is Super Chicken’s favourite lady and an absolute stunner. She still makes a point of chatting to me daily to tell me her news and I am very happy to listen.

Every single one of these hens in farms is an individual, a unique and special individual.

Society needs to realise this or there is no hope for these beautiful, intelligent birds.

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