MORE THAN 2,000 battery hens will be slaughtered if new homes cannot be found for them.
Fresh Start for Hens, which has previously saved more than 32,000 birds from certain death, wants Chronicle readers to help in its latest rehoming drive after the success of our duck story last year.
More than 2,000 hens need to find new homes by the end of January, or they will be sent to the slaughterhouse, explained Fresh Start for Hens volunteer Angela Bass, 46, from Chelmsford, who adopted four hens in 2013.
"I wanted to do something out of my comfort zone, and I had always wanted to keep hens," Ms Bass explained.
"I got my first four hens from Fresh Start and then, a few months later, I became a volunteer. They are so friendly, probably because they are used to being around people, and I've helped out at four re-homings since I got my own."
The re-homings, which take place throughout the year, attempt to find safe places for thousands of ex-working hens, which can no longer produce enough eggs for farms to consider them profitable.
"Once hens reach about 72 weeks old, they are no longer financially viable," Ms Bass explained.
"Farms are businesses, and if hens are laying less than six eggs a week, they aren't making any money.
"One farmer said she was so grateful to us, as the hens give them their living, so they are sad to see them go to slaughter."
New owners will reap the benefits, as most still lay eggs each week, and can live to six or seven years old, Ms Bass explained.
She added: "People don't need a massive garden, just a few feet of space per hen, and they eat household snacks and can be kept in a run. We do try to re-home all of the hens, but any we can't find homes for do go to the slaughterhouse."
There are several collection points across Essex including Basildon, Billericay, Brentwood and Chelmsford.
The date of the next rehome is Saturday, January 31, and the charity asks for a donation of £2.50 per hen.
For more information, visit www.freshstartforhens.co.uk
