Rescuing chickens from the slaughterhouse is the driving force behind a rehoming program for old egg-laying hens.

Key points: A program organised by Tania Daykin, called Let the Ladies Go, has rehomed close to 30,000 chickens in two years

A program organised by Tania Daykin, called Let the Ladies Go, has rehomed close to 30,000 chickens in two years The hens, which Ms Daykin arranges to collect from farmers at the end of their egg-laying lifespan, go to the homes of people who keep them as pets — not necessarily for their egg-laying abilities — and new owners report being happy with them

The hens, which Ms Daykin arranges to collect from farmers at the end of their egg-laying lifespan, go to the homes of people who keep them as pets — not necessarily for their egg-laying abilities — and new owners report being happy with them Farmers say it is not possible to rehome many of them due to the time constraints and a vet has flagged concerns about the ongoing health of chickens that have been bred to have a lifespan of 18 months

Organiser Tania Daykin began her mission two years ago when she started developing relationships with egg producers to an attempt to gain their trust and respect.

Ms Daykin, the heart and soul of the operation, has been working with other volunteers to enable factory-farmed hens to experience the highs, and lows, of being a backyard pet before they die.

It is an idea that has taken off across New South Wales according to Ms Daykin, who has rehomed close to 30,000 chickens.

Ms Daykin ensures that people who are collecting the hens — who make a gold coin donation — are aware that the chickens' health is more important than the prospect of daily eggs.

'Let the Ladies Go'

In the egg-laying business chickens are typically due to be disposed of at 18 months.

This is when Ms Daykin swoops in with her truck and volunteers to take the flock next due for slaughter.

This factory chicken waiting to be rehomed discovers grass for the very first time. ( ABC Illawarra: Sarah Moss )

"The date on their cage door also indicates the date of their death, as farmers already have the next batch of chickens in the incubator, ready to go," she said.

Ms Daykin said it took considerable time and perseverance to persuade farmers to get on board with the idea of rehoming chickens.

Having done so she then proceeded to facilitate it under the banner of Let the Ladies Go.

Using her retirement money she purchased a property, Mandalong, installed a shed, bought a truck, and slowly but surely filled her home — and her life and heart — with rescued hens.

"It's snowballed," she said.

"We used to have to call farmers but now they call us and we can only take so many."

Working with producers

Stephanie Daykin and Tania Daykin on the road with their portable chicken van. ( ABC Illawarra: Sarah Moss )

Ms Daykin said that egg producers were keeping the chickens in "as good a condition as they can, just because they know the chicken isn't going to die, it's coming with us".

Farmer and managing director of The Egg Shed Ian Williamson disagreed on this point even though he has a good agreement going with Ms Daykin.

"We've always taken good care of our birds. We've always made sure we are not over-stocked and there's plenty of room outside for free range," he said.

"For other farms, well I'm sure this does happen, but we are proud of our system here — it hasn't changed us in that sense.

"When I have some older flocks coming out, I give her notice and she takes them gradually, moving them on accordingly. She's very understanding and likes our farm, we get along quite well."

Although Mr Williamson said he enjoyed his relationship with Ms Daykin, he said it did not make his job any easier.

"The slaughterhouse will take them all at once, but we can factor in when to move the birds so we can do it over a gradual period of time," he said.

"It's been happening for a few years and it works well for us now.

"It's not a problem loading the birds. My staff help and she brings a helper to load them into the truck.

"I think it's magnificent what she does, and she uses her own money, she's very selfless and I think she's doing a good thing."

Amy Vinkin and Greg Coleman spent the morning building a pen in their garden for the chickens to live in. ( ABC Illawarra: Sarah Moss )

Farmers look at the bigger picture

Commercial egg producer Bede Burke has a farm outside Tamworth in northern NSW, and said that the end of a chicken's lay cycle, and how that was managed, were critical components of the industry.

"It's important that the birds, in terms of their welfare, don't suffer beyond normal depopulation, and that we do it in terms of approved practices and standards, and that the industry doesn't have a legacy of birds just ending up all over the place," he said.

Mr Burke said that Let the Ladies Go sounded well-meaning with good intentions but he saw a lot of problems with it.

"If Let the Ladies Go has rehomed 30,000 hens that's fantastic, but we have an industry of 20 million birds in Australia in the egg industry alone," he said.

"Realistically, rehoming is just not possible beyond a microcosm of the industry.

"We need to depopulate our sheds within a couple of days. We can't be dribbling birds out here, there, and everywhere and no-one's going to take 27,000 hens in one go."

Ms Daykin and volunteers collect 'old' chickens from egg farms, redistributing them to people in nearby towns. ( ABC Illawarra: Sarah Moss )

Mr Burke said he was also concerned about how much care an older hen would be given, and the bigger issue of disease.

"When people pay full price for a pullet [a young hen] they are actually going to take care of that pullet because it has a high value — as opposed to an end-of-lay hen that people get for a very modest, if not a gift, price," he said.

"We are finding that a lot of these issues like diseases are tending to come from people who have birds in outback situations in combination with other birds, pets and animals, and it's really putting the commercial industry at risk.

"We've had exotic disease in Australia with avian influenza [bird flu], which is not just an exotic disease, and one that kills birds, but it has the effect of transferring to humans as demonstrated in Indonesia."

He said that was particularly prevalent when people kept birds as pets and had them in their homes.

Volunteer Stephanie Daykin holds a bird that Let the Ladies Go says is typical of the way rescued battery hens generally look. ( ABC Illawarra: Sarah Moss )

Can there be problems at home?

According to Wollongong veterinarian Michael Cannon, these hens are pretty biosecurity-safe, but once they get to people's gardens they are exposed to cockroaches and rats that do carry diseases.

"None of these birds should ever have been exposed to avian flu but out in the neighbourhood there is low-grade avian flu that comes in from time to time," he said.

"The government follows that pretty strictly — but it is possible, and some avian flus can transfer to people.

"Most of these birds are genetically designed to live for 18 months, so within a year of release many may develop reproduction and respiratory problems. We know this because we see them quite often.

"My only concern is that these birds have been genetically selected to live just long enough to lay some eggs and then be taken to the slaughterhouse. They lay eggs at a fantastic rate, and there's a price to pay for that."

Across the Illawarra and South Coast families collected up to 10 hens for their backyards and farms. ( ABC Illawara: Sarah Moss )

Dr Cannon said it was important therefore to be sensitive to the bird, look for any problems and jump on them early.

"Birds mask their signs of illness like no other animal does, so by the time you are aware of them, they are often quite ill," he said.

'Here chook chook'

Karen Harris, who lives on a farm in Jamberoo with a lonely rooster, responded to a Facebook event and waited patiently at the designated pick-up point to collect the 10 hens she had previously registered to take.

"We used to get battery hens all the time," she said.

"Had them for over 40 years and I just want to restock.

"They eat the scraps and if I can get them to respond to 'chook chook', I'll be happy about that."

Editor's Note (6/5/19): This story and its headlines have been amended to correct Tania Daykin's name, which was incorrectly reported in the original article.