Hoppy

I picked up Hoppy and 11 other ex-battery hens from Edgar’s Mission in July, 2012.  Edgar’s Mission had rescued thousands of hens from a cage egg farm who was going out of business and the farmer agreed to let Edgar’s Mission rescue all of them. Hoppy was lucky enough to be one of them. She got another chance at life.

I named her, “Hoppy” because it was very evident soon after she arrived that she had a limp. It turned out that she had a broken bone in her leg. After many months of attempting to get it to heal, my vet and I gave up. There was no way it was ever going to heal and the pain was too much for Hoppy to live with so Hoppy’s right leg was amputated. You may think it was extreme, but it was the only thing to give Hoppy that second chance at life. She adapted so well and she could even keep up with the fastest of them on her one leg with the help of her wings.

Hoppy lived another happy year until eggs finally killed her. She developed egg yolk peritonitis and passed away despite her and my best efforts to beat it.

She was one determined little lady. Her will to live despite her one leg reminds me every day how much we need to make people realise that chickens are more than just an egg and more than a piece of meat, they are intelligent, emotional birds who just want to live.

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