The Christchurch Open Rescue collective has rescued 37 young hens from a Canterbury battery farm, saving them from living a life of misery in battery cages. The group is part of the wider Open Rescue network across New Zealand, which has rescued battery hens and documented the plight of factory farmed pigs and broiler chickens since beginning in 2006. Open Rescue members openly break the law to rescue animals from exploitation, and document the horrific conditions they live in.

"These hens were destined to become some of the 2.8 million hens exploited in battery farms in New Zealand. Instead, we have given them the gift of a normal life, which they have welcomed with open arms in the days since they were rescued" said Christchurch Open Rescue member Tracey Brown.

"The chickens are now having dirt baths, eating fresh greenery and will soon be laying eggs for the first time, free from the battery farm conditions where they struggled to even have enough space to turn around" said Rebecca McCready, another Christchurch Open Rescue member, "In the sheds we took them from, we witnessed half-metre high piles of faeces and feathers left uncleaned, and an apparent complete lack of access to water."

Video : YouTube Video

Links: OpenRescue.org | April 2007 AIMC Feature | First NZ Open Rescue, November 2006