Solitary chicken - need advice

[libby22]

I am so angry I have just paid a visit to a lovely garden centre - Barnett Hill - which is always so beautifully presented and the animals well cared for - so I thought.

 

I went outside to see the chickens and although the pen was a good size, six poor girls were on concentre, no scratching area, no dust bath - just with pellets and no further food, toys, anything! They had two houses in there - full of straw Two of the girls were very mucky at the back end and there was some nasty poo on the floor - albeit I will say the rest of the concrete had clearly been scrubbed and was clean. The girls however looked greasy and in need of a good clean, not to mention looking totally bored and dejected.

 

I found a girl cleaning the rabbits out and asked who looked after the chickens. She promptly said not her as she was allergic to them However, she could call someone else if I wanted help. I asked when they would be given somewhere to scratch and dust bathe - bearing in mind they had been placed on concrete next to a lovely run of green grass they could use instead. She was taken aback however explained that the roof of the pen needed fixing - probably at the end of the week and if they put anything in now, it would get muddy because of the rain I had to walk away before there was a real scene in there. I tried to calm down when I came in but have just had to e-mail them and complain. Can you imagine leaving six chickens on concrete trapped together with no other form of interest - they are just going to turn on each other and there is no one there to sort it out.

 

Honestly - I still can't get my breath.

[miller30]

This may seem horrible to you but what you have to remember is its a garden centre they are not going to keep the birds in the conditions that we all do hopefully they will be sold to good homes where they will get much more attention and freeranging time etc leanne

[merlina]

always very distressing to see things like this isn't it?

So many places are either cutting back to save money or just don't care.

The only way to shame them into action, IMHO, is to point out that a) they just lost your custom and b) you will be shouting from the rooftops (or at least the interweb!) about their poor treatment of their animals

It's not acceptable for them to be in poor conditions, all animals have a right to have basic needs met

[libby22]

I do hope they get good homes soon. The last time I visited the centre, I heard one of the girls advising a customer that they each had to attend training courses to learn about the animals they would be looking after in the shop. The chicken carers must have had the day off!

 

I have e-mailed them and pointed out that the battery hens - or enriched caged girls as they are now known - have at least a small chance of a dust bath, scratching area and perch and these are minimal government guidelines, however stingy they really are. These girls weren't even afforded the same as a poor old battery hen. The rabbits, guinea pigs etc are in such luxurious conditions inside, I actually feel sorry for them being sold as no one could keep up with the lifestyle they are accustomed to! I just get the feeling that yet again it is a case of "it is just a chicken", but no one thinks that way about the rabbits etc.

 

I don't usually do a rant but the looks on those girls' faces as they felt the urge to scratch about and realised they couldn't was heart breaking. They sort of started and then stopped as if to say, why bother, they just stood about staring and if they were in better condition, they were real beauties. Honestly, I feel I could buy a pen tomorrow and buy the lot of them, but then the shop would just buy more - so frustrating.

 

Thanks for listening - just needed to rant as I think I was going blue in the face

[Chortle Chook]

I think you have done a very good thing, Libby, in pointing out what chickens need. If they were clean, maybe the garden centre staff thought that was enough. Lots of people don't understand that chickens actually need to dust bath, scratch and perch. At the very least it will have given them something to think about.

[libby22]

Thank you. I do hope so. I am quite happy if they at least think we best get something done in case that daft woman comes back and moans! I don't care what they think about me, as long as something is done. Hopefully, I may hear from them tomorrow about my e-mail.

[PoachedPlease]

I guess it's still better than caged hens, in terms of space. Most people don't realise they need to scratch and perch. To be honest I'm not sure the basic eglu offers much more, certainly no perches and less space!

 

Xx

[Redwing]

There is nothing wrong with straw as bedding, I use it and have had no issues with it at all, its very economical for coops that need to be completely cleared between batches of birds and is easily disposed of in great amounts

 

The concrete is probably for hygiene reasons, in a place where the turnover of chooks is high its common sense as it can be kept cleaner. Chooks dont get bored in the way we may imagine, they get stressed if there are too many in a small space which can lead to behavioural problems but given enough room even if its a basic space they dont actually get bored

 

Remember they are there for a short while just to be sold and will hopefully go on to happy pet homes and a very different life

 

I bet if someone were to walk around my breeding pens they would think me very unkind as my chooks get the basic of basic environment

[Luvachicken]

Thinking about it, I have been to 2 different garden centres in our area recently and the chickens they had for sale only had straw on a concrete base with just food and water.

Maybe that's just how garden centres do it

Hopefully the chickens will go to good homes sooner rather later.

[libby22]

The girl I spoke to said that the chickens are usually kept on turf, with a scratching area and dust baths - they had all been taken away as they needed to fix the roof of the pen and that could take a week. What annoyed me was that the girls had been used to it all and had it whipped away because someone may or may not come in at the end of the week and sort out their pen. They wouldn't leave the dust baths in because the rain would fall on them. The straw in the hen houses was half hanging out and soaking wet. It would only take one person to keep an eye on them and they have a very large team there with the animals. When I enquired about the chickens, the girl I spoke to was in a team of six people cleaning out ten rabbit pens.

 

I just felt sorry for them. They weren't your normal chickens scratching busily around. They were just standing doing nothing as there really wasn't anything to do and I was there for quite some time. I suppose I was just disappointed - their animals are always so immaculate with clean food, bedding, water, toys, lots of space, never seem stressed. I have been going there for years as I just couldn't fault the place. Then the contrast to a pen of chickens, with dirty feathers, mucky backsides, standing on concrete with a house of wet straw and a tub of food. The contrast just doesn't make sense. However, by the sounds of it, that is how it is with garden centres who sell chickens. I wonder what their guidelines are for keeping them?

 

I agree about the Eglu - tiny amount of space

[Patricia W]

I have to say, I would have called the RSPCA. A sort sharp shock of a visit would hurry up the person mending the roof!

[coco]

I spotted some chickens in a local garden centre last year was so concerned I reported it to the RSPCA. They reported back to me that they had checked the hens and were happy with what they saw. I did go back to the garden centre and conditions had improved although they were still on concrete. I suppose it is easier to hose down and keep clean.

[libby22]

Thanks both re the RSPCA - that is good to know. I still haven't heard back from them so think I may give them a dig in the ribs.

[PoachedPlease]

Coco my chickens are on concrete mainly, hope thats not an RSPCA issue

 

I would be very upset if someone thought that was cruel! On this website the chickens on the whole are spoilt, which is lovely, but as has already been said by someone with lots of experience, chickens are really not that bright and therefore don't get as bored as you think. If you look at the size of their head, you can see they are creatures of very little brain!! Meanwhile I have never owned so much as a mouse as I hate the small cages, even rabbits have hutches where they can hardly turn around and fish are in tiny tanks. Can't think about it too hard or the RSPCA would be very busy!

 

I guess we all draw the line at different places but I would never set the RSPCA on anyone without a lot of thought, they are seriously scarey

 

 

Xx

[redsunset]

All my hybrid chooks came from a local garden centre, and to be honest used to think the same re conditions. Run with couple of perches, food/water and that was it. The chooks were often snapped up so quick, that most were not there for more than 48 hrs to a week so kinda thought of it like a wee holding centre until their forever homes were found. If they were there for weeks and weeks it would be different, but thankfully not the case up here. Guess in my case I was grateful of somewhere to buy my first chickens and bought lots over the first year? But I do get your point totally if chickens were there for a long time.

[libby22]

Well, I am pleased to say that I have received a response back from Barnett Hill and the following is the best bit:

 

"Our Chickens are usually provided with turf which is laid across the flooring in which to scratch at, unfortunately this has been currently unavailable due to supply issues. We are looking for other suitable means.

 

While we are waiting for the roofing to be changed we have provided a temporary cover for the Chickens to provide a much drier environment and also a covered area for them to have their daily dust bath."

 

Brilliant - I just wanted their run covered so they could at least have a dry corner and a dust bath and that seems to now be the case and hopefully somewhere to scratch about in is on its way. They were apologetic and whilst perhaps lacking at the time, have corrected the issue so can't say fairer than that.

[Chortle Chook]

Well done Libby. Through your persistence and refusal to look the other way a few chickens are that much happier. That's a lesson for me

[libby22]

Well, I will give them their due, I was waiting for a complete mouthful back via the e-mail but really pleased with their response.