Lewis' mother was once forced to lay egg after egg for human consumption, but once she was rescued by SASHA Farm, she was determined to have a family of her own. When no one was looking, she somehow made her way into the rafters of a storage barn and laid a few eggs on a piece of barn siding. She kept her secret well hidden until one day she realized that her newly hatched family couldn't make the long leap to the ground as easily as she did. She called her chicks and paced frantically and that alerted the humans that something was amiss. After a little rescue mission to help the chicks down from the rafters, the family was reunited on the ground.
All grown up now, Lewis is one of those chicks. He has the same determination and rebellious spirit as his mother, may she rest in peace. (Unfortunately, hens who are forced to lay more eggs for human consumption than they naturally would rarely live to see old age, even after being given their freedom and a healthier, hormone-free diet.) Despite being one of the smaller roosters in the flock, he's one of the proudest, crowing to greet every visitor. We think his mom would be proud of the rooster he's become.
Clarice was founding wandering along a busy street in Chicago. Tired, weak and ill, she was fortunate to have been picked up by a veterinary technician who brought Clarice to work with her and had her good as new in no time. Of course, hens aren't good house pets, so after searching for a safe home for her all over the Chicago area without any luck, they contacted us and we welcomed her to our hen house.
We received a call from the Michigan Humane Society in February of 2008, asking if we possibly had any room for 25 more chickens. After hearing their story, we couldn’t possibly say no. Someone ordered two dozen chicks to be delivered to someone else’s house! (They received 26. The hatcheries always send extra to make up for the ones that will die in transit.) The person receiving the chicks, of course, had no use for chickens, especially tiny baby chicks in the dead of winter. Fortunately, rather than simply disposing of them, they took them to the Michigan Humane Society who recognized that they needed to find a safe, permanent home for them quickly.
They arrived at SASHA Farm less than 24 hours later, but shipping and all the extra transit from place to place was too much for some. The whole misadventure turned tragic for ten of them. Without stable temperatures and constant monitoring for food and water intake, they died before they reached the safety of our incubator. Thankfully, sixteen that safely and grew up to be happy, healthy hens and roosters. Hilda is one of those hens.
