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A Hull woman has described the "awful" state hens were when she went to buy one from a free range farm to save it from slaughter.

Zoe Foxworthy, from Newbald, took the trip to Babthorpe Hall Farm in Selby on the edge of the North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire border, after hearing they were selling chickens for £1 as part of a clear out.

Taking a trip up the lane to the farm, which she says had queues of cars, Zoe asked for three of the hens. However, it was only when she got home that she realised one of the hens had a particularly distressing appearance.

She said: "They come out, ask how many you want and you give them the money and they bring the hens out in a box. I think they limited the amount you could have obviously.

"I could only see a little bit but when I opened the box it was awful. I didn't realise how bad it was at first and I was a bit upset because they're meant to be free range and the poor thing looks awful.

"(Florence is) missing claws and feathers and her skin is red raw and hot to touch. Because the hens are cooped out they can't get away from each other so some of them don't stand a chance and end up like this."

A spokeswoman for Babthorpe Hall Farm declined to comment.

Babthorpe Hall Farm advertised they were selling around 12,000 hens as part of a clear out they do every 13 months due to "deteriorating shell quality".

The hens are still able to lay eggs, but if not sold, they are sold for slaughter. A spokeswoman previously said: "It seems a shame for them to go to slaughter - they will save people a lot of money on buying eggs."

But Zoe said she heard a rumour hens can be sold for more to individuals than to slaughterhouses, and she said the farm should not be allowed to keep them in such a state.

She said: "I've heard you don't get as much money for slaughter as you do to sell them on and I think that is probably the only reason they did it.

"People say it means lot to them to give them a good home but then they wouldn't keep them in the containers in the first place. I think people see 'free range' and think it is so much better but often it's not.

"All of the staff were lovely and were really nice when they brought the chickens out and I wouldn't have an issue if they cared for the animals.

"They shouldn't be allowed to be kept in this state in the first place. If this were a dog or a cat, there would be outrage. A lot of people aren't aware they are kept in these conditions or they are ignorant to the suffering.

"She is classed as 'free range' and is in this state - can you imagine the state of caged hens?"

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