Week One – Settling Rescue Hens in

For the first week your newly rescued hens will be very shy. They won’t move around much. The will look and act different than other hens. You have to leave them to adjust at their own pace. Don’t startle them because they have to get use to their new environment.

Make sure your hen house is warm with lots of bedding. The battery hen house would have also been very warm, so it’s important that your coop is cosy.

Make sure you keep the feeder and drinker very close to the hens. As they will not want to wander too far. Change as little as possible about their diet. Don’t feed them green fruit and vegetables as they are too rich for the hens.

Although all this may be a little work, it will be very rewarding to see your transformed rescue hens.

Week Two +

Clean out your hen house every week. This will help the hens be happier and healthier. You can start introducing some greens and grains into their diet. Do once a month for mites and worms. You can give them apple cider vinegar in their water for a week a month as well.  If you want them to remain healthy and lay feed them on layers pellets.