Maqi activists have liberated four chickens from a “rearing factory” for so-called laying hens. The hens were kept in “rearing batteries” – rows of cages with a ground surface of approximately half a square metre, with up to 14 animals imprisoned in each cage. Although the animals were still young and comparatively healthy, a deep freezer at the front of the enclosure was filled with corpses – hens that had not survived their first weeks. Directly after hatching the chicks were separated according to sex for egg production in exploited breeding lines, and almost all the males killed. From this brutality, the chicks were transported to “rearing batteries” such as these. After around three to four months, when they begin to lay eggs, they will be put to work as egg producers in battery farms. After a year, when their “laying capacity” decreases, they will be slaughtered. According to Claude Martin of Maqi, “over a quarter of a billion hens were held captive in Europe alone for egg consumption, which means over half a billion deaths per year”. The rescued hens were brought to people who will provide them with the necessary care, and where they can lead their lives with the greatest possible freedom. Click on any photo for larger version
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