Hens Rescued from Abandoned Egg Factory

Maui Fresh Eggs, a 100,000-hen egg factory, closed about a month ago. Before it closed, I made a plea to other animal advocates on the island to adopt as many chickens as possible and save them from being needlessly killed on the final day of operation. These creatures, like all hens used in commercial egg production operations, had suffered. Their days and nights were spent crammed together inside battery cages too small for them to move freely or even spread their wings. To prevent fighting injuries caused by stress induced aggression, egg industry workers sliced off the tips of the birds' beaks using hot irons. The de-beaking procedure is extremely painfully because the beak contains nerve endings. Some birds are unable to eat after being de-beaked and starve to death.

Abandoned hen left to die

On closing day, hens were sold in groups of four with their legs bound tightly with twine, which caused paralysis to some hens. Leftover hens, not sold to the public, were killed. Factory farm workers killed them by snapping their necks or burying them.

Activists rescuing battery hens at egg factory

While in the neighborhood, about a month after the egg factory shut down, I noticed the factory's gates were open, so I drove my car all the way inside the giant compound just to make sure no live hens were left behind. As I drove in, I saw dozens upon dozens of emaciated battery hens near the sheds. They must have somehow escaped slaughter on the day the egg factory closed. I also saw countless dead hens lying on the ground after apparently succumbing to starvation and dehydration during the past month. Further into the compound, I located a man working in a gigantic shed that housed battery cages and asked him whether these remaining hens were being given food or water. He told me the hens were not being given food or water, and agreed to let me come back with my cat carriers and retrieve them.

I contacted some kind-hearted vegan friends who live on farms in Haiku and Kula, and they offered to help rescue and provide homes for these abandoned hens. One couple had already taken in eight hens the day the factory closed.

Gently handling traumatized bird

That night, six of us went to the egg factory after dark and met up with the on-site guy. The stench of manure and chicken corpses inside the long, narrow sheds was overpowering. It was pitch black in there, so we used head lamps and flash lights to illuminate the hellish place. We were stepping on dead hens everywhere. One poor bird had become stuck between some bars and died a slow, miserable death. I took a picture with my camera to show consumers of factory farmed eggs what they are contributing to.

Hen caught between bars of battery cage dies a slow death

It took a few hours to locate all the abandoned hens and roust them from their sleep. They screamed in terror as they were plucked up and taken away. Little did they know how their lives were about to change. At the end of the night, forty-six hens were saved. The manager said we got them all.

Rescued Hens Enjoy Nesting Boxes and Sheltered Perches at Greenleaf Far

The rescued hens are now enjoying their new homes. The people who adopted them described the joy the chickens experienced as they, for the first time, felt the rain on their backs and the sun on their feathers. Liberation takes on new meaning as these gentle hens get to feel the free breezes of Maui after their cruel incarceration.

Starving Hens Eat Feast at their New Home at Blake Farm