Welcoming The Highway Hens
A survivor of the crash begins the 3 ½ hour journey to her new home in Bloomington, IN
At 10am on Tuesday, July 14, a truck carrying crates of live chickens crashed into a median on an Interstate 80 eastbound ramp in Lake County, Indiana. The driver fled the scene, leaving 28 crates and loose panicked chickens strewn across the road. State troopers and other rescuers including the Humane Society moved the crates to the side of the road and gathered the survivors to bring them to safety in the hot July sun.
It’s likely these ladies escaped the fate of almost all “spent” laying hens, who after 12 to 24 months, when they become less productive and their calcium stores are depleted, are either disposed of or sent off to slaughter to be used for “lower-grade” purposes like pet food or processed soups.
Over 100 hens were taken to nearby Erin’s Farm, where under the care of Sanctuary founder Erin Yanz, they began their new life and journey to recovery.
More than 200 miles away, Goat Conspiracy staff and Board members heard about the accident and contacted Erin’s Farm to see if we could help, and on July 29th we headed north to Hobart, IN. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive, car loaded with borrowed carriers of various sizes. When we arrived, we found the “highway hens” comfortably scratching and pecking in their temporary bunny shed on Erin’s 33-acre sanctuary where these scraggly survivors were getting the chance to be chickens for the very first time.
We padded the carriers with straw donated by Erin, and Erin and Nicole began carrying chickens from the coop and loading them into the carriers. Each carrier held two to four hens, but that probably seemed like relatively luxurious accommodations after the crates in which they had previously traveled. We bade farewell to Erin, her husband and staff, and three and a half air-conditioned hours later, these 22 Highway Hens arrived home.
Ben, Mary Alice, and Jim had spent the week prior preparing a quarantine coop for them, where they are spending their first two weeks at The Goat Conspiracy Sanctuary.
We’re happy to report that they are active, very vocal, and very curious, getting comfortable in their new surroundings and learning to fly up to their new roosts. Their combs are returning to the bright red of healthy chickens and in the bottom right picture below, you can see little pin feathers appearing. They are eating voraciously.
If you’d like to see a video of that Wednesday adventure, visit our Instagram, where we will continue to share updates and photos. We love these ladies, and we think they’re beautiful.
Their personalities are starting to emerge as well. One of most delightful surprises is the relationship that has developed between one of the hens and our staff member Abbey, who has named her “Panda”. Whenever Abbey enters their coop to clean or refill their feeders and water, Panda will immediately jump onto her shoulder and stay there until Abbey leaves. She will even close her eyes and appear to fall asleep.
We look forward to sharing more pictures and stories of their recovery and integration into our flock. Visit us on Instagram and Facebook, and share their story. If you’d like to support the Highway Hens and all the work of Abbey and the rest of our dedicated staff and volunteers, visit our Donate page and make a gift today!