Hi, it’s Patagonia the hen! If you follow Animal Place (me) on social media, you might know me from when I taught caregivers how to drive, performed quality assurance inspections on the pigs’ watermelon, and made sure that the chicken health check notes were in order.
But if you don’t, let me tell you a little about myself and why I’m clucking for your help.
Earlier this year, I lived at an organic egg farm. It was a rough life for me, because I am not the healthiest hen in the world. (I am the coolest.)
So while I struggled to eat, the farm kept taking my eggs to sell to humans. You might think because the farm is pasture-based and organic that it was a great life. But sometimes hawks would kill hens and none of us received individual care. We were never protected against avian influenza. Once I and the other hens turned two, the farm planned to sell us for slaughter. 😔
That all changed when Animal Place rescued me and nearly 600 other hens! Most of the hens found forever homes but I decided to set up shop at the sanctuary. I like it here too much!
Now I receive daily care for issues with my crop that never received care at the farm, as well as draining fluid building up in my belly – a procedure I definitely do not like. I live in a stall with other special needs hens, who I supervise but don’t associate heavily with.
Here’s the thing I could use your help with. My fellow flockmates have been on flockdown for two years. Avian influenza can kill a whole flock of chickens and turkeys in a few days. Supporters helped build special overhangs so that we could have a small, safe outdoor area. But it was meant to be short-term.
Unfortunately, I don’t think bird flu is going away any time soon. So I’ve requested an expansion of all of our yards! I have great pull at the sanctuary, but as a chicken, I do not have money or opposable thumbs!
But you do!
The plan I’ve proposed is to install a minimum of 100 feet of shade cloth outside every one of our stalls. This would give us more space and more sunlight. It would keep us as safe as possible from bird flu until a more permanent solution can be developed. The humans seem receptive but tell me this requires asking for help!
Will you help me get this plan implemented?
I may not have a checking account, but I’ve been able to count and do arithmetic since I hatched out of an egg! Here is my breakdown of how you can help give me and my flockmates some more outdoor space:
- $10 buys two t-posts
- $20 helps buy and install a 15′ post to connect the cloth to in the main stall’s yard.
- $40 covers 80 of the 12,000 square feet shade cloth needed.
Thank you!
With clucks of appreciation,
Patagonia the hen
Barnyard Supervisor
PS: Here is me typing up my proposal!
