What to do before your adopted battery hens arrive

Adoption

Overview

It’s important to be prepared so your hens have a calm, cosy introduction to their new home.

Read this Guide – pages 7 to 18 – so you are fully prepared to look after your now ex-battery hens and give them the very best of care. We do check you have read this when you come to collect your girls – so it is a non-negotiable. It’s very important to us that we know they are now going to have their best life!

Recommended Shopping List

Every hen we bring home to the Hen Hospital will receive these extra nutrients and products to help them prepare for their new life. We think you should too. This first month out of the battery cages is most important and they need help to build up their immunity and stronger bones, muscles and ligaments by giving them this extra care at this time.

Multi-Vitamin supplement such as Avi-VITAL or Anitone (or any similar product). It’s important to provide multi-vitamins, essential minerals, amino acids and prebiotics for the first month or so while they build up their system strength.
Electrolytes such as Avi-LYTE or the homemade formula I’ve noted below. This replaces the electrolytes lost during periods of stress and weather changes and is especially good in hot or humid weather.
Calcium supplements such as Avi-CALCIUM (or similar product) or Liquid Gold. Both of these include Vit D3 to help with calcium absorption. Big help for strengthening their bones in legs and wings (and shell integrity).
Shell grit should be left in a separate bowl for them to eat when they want it – don’t buy feed with shell grit in it as it wastes your money. Hens know when they need it.
Diatomaceous Earth (DE). Use Diatomaceous Earth by rubbing into the roost and sprinkling into the nest boxes as it breaks down the exoskeleton of the lice/mite. You can also rub through the hen’s feathers if you have a lice/mite infestation.
Ivermectin – on adoption day we will have this available for you in 10ml bottles (most cost-effective option for Mother Cluckers only). You are emailed information about this prior to adoption day. You can also buy a commercial product such as AVI-Mec too.
AniStraw – hygienic, no dust. A soft, great straw for your hens at least in the first month while their immunity system is getting stronger.
Granulated mash (like the Barastock Top Layer Mash). Their digestive systems need to adjust to the feed you want to give them, so it’s best to transition them from what they have always eaten to your preferred feed. For the granulated feed, allow just ¼–½ kg/hen over 4–6 days as you transition them to the feed you want to give them. We will have it available for you in smaller bags (either at produce store or with us on adoption day).
Worming – Fluverm. Until now it’s only been available in tubs for commercial farms but we have now made up pouches of these for you to purchase on adoption days, or we can post them to you. No egg withdrawal and easy to use and rids all worms (just like Avitrol worming tablets do).

Prepare your coop and run for their homecoming

Give the coop area a good clean and create a comfortable floor space for them for the time being until they are stronger in the legs and ready to climb and explore. These hens have lived in a small wire cage in sanitary conditions so are not used to walking on dirt, especially pooey dirt (which harbours lots of different kinds of bacteria). Put some AniStraw (it’s what I use as it is sanitised so a good starter straw for them) or coarse sand, hay or similar in the coop on the ground (not sawdust as they may try to eat it). They will take a little while to get used to getting up onto a roost or nesting in a nesting box to lay an egg.
Check there are no high places the chookies can fall from. Think of them like a 2-yr-old child in the beginning. Remember they have only stood on wire and had less than a square metre for 6 of them to move around in one cage for their entire life, so need time to build up strength in their legs. No climbing or jumping for these girls for a few weeks till they are much stronger in their legs. As they need to live “downstairs” for a while, please ensure it is protected from wind and rain.
Give them places to escape to. Some may get pecked on so you need places for them to hide or escape to.
Extra feeders and waterers. Some may not want to eat with the others. To make sure they all can access feed and water without being scared, spread the feeders and waterers around the area they are staying in.
Have a back-up plan if you feel you need to give the new girls some separate time in a more confined environment – for example if they are getting pecked on too much.

The 4 Important Emails Sent to You Prior to Adoption Day That You Must Read

When you commit to rescuing and adopting your battery hen girls, you will receive the following emails prior to the adoption day. Please make sure emails from us land in your inbox (check your junk/spam folders) as we don’t want you missing out on important information:

The Adoption Fee (sent around 2 weeks before). Provides you details for payment online for your adoption fee. This makes it so much easier for us on the day. Only when we have received your online adoption fee or you have let us know you prefer to pay cash on the day, is your adoption confirmed. Cut-off time to confirmation is the Wednesday before your adoption day! If we haven’t received your adoption fee or advice about cash on day, then we won’t be rescuing your chookies for you as we do not have the resources to keep healthy chookies at our Hen Hospitals.
Products Email (sent around 2 weeks before). Is a list of what you can buy online now and have waiting for you on the day and other items like lice/mite control and best worming treatment that we will have plenty of on the day for you to purchase. Who Give A Cluck merchandise and goodies made and donated by supporters. Every dollar raised goes directly to the care of the chookies (we are all volunteers).
Final List of Adopting Mother Cluckers (sent around 1 week before) with confirmation of date, day, location, time to arrive (which you can change by replying to me) and reminder to check this Chookie Care Guide for what to bring!
Night Before Adoption Day Email, showing you the actual rescue and health-check day so you can see what your support is allowing us to achieve!

Save My Number

From Friday early morning until the end of the weekend, I will not likely access my emails. There will be an auto-reply message letting you know this. If you have any last-minute questions or requests, you need to text me only please.

Julie – Who Gives A Cluck
0428 335 766