Today’s commercially raised hens are bred to lay an unnatural number of eggs, which takes a devastating toll on their bodies, sometimes leading to osteoporosis or broken bones. And millions of hens are kept in wire cages so small that they don’t even have the basic freedom to stretch their wings.

At Farm Sanctuary, rescued hens suffering from the impacts of the egg industry are given a chance to live the lives they’ve always deserved. Here, we see each of these birds as someone, not something. 

Below, meet a few of the resilient and inspiring individuals we have rescued from egg production.

When a fire spread through a “cage-free” egg farm, more than 300,000 trapped birds died. This tragedy reminds us of the suffering birds face even on egg farms without cages, where they’re still unable to escape the cramped and crowded confines of factory farms. 

Thankfully, 230 hens survived the blaze, including the resilient Phoenix and 39 others who rose from the ashes to start a new life at Farm Sanctuary. Now truly free to live in peace, Phoenix has blossomed into an outgoing and friendly bird who makes friends with everyone she meets. She’s usually the first to greet her caregivers each day!

Xena was almost one of the millions of birds killed as COVID-19 delayed slaughterhouse operations and disrupted supply chains across the country. Factory farming aims to raise and slaughter animals as quickly as possible to maximize profits; it is not a food system resilient to slowdowns. 

But a farmer chose kindness when he spared the life of Xena and more than 630 other birds, alerting rescuers that they needed forever homes. We welcomed 14 hens to Farm Sanctuary and placed five others in a trusted home in our Farm Animal Adoption Network (FAAN). In our care, brave Xena lived every day to the fullest, always adventuring, exploring the outdoors, dustbathing, or hanging out with her flock.

Aria beat nearly insurmountable odds. In the egg industry, most hens are killed at about 2 years old or younger, when their exhausted bodies can no longer produce eggs. Among the methods used to kill these birds in the thousands at a time is carbon dioxide gassing, which is not always effective, and can leave animals terrified and suffering.

As a supervisor at a Los Angeles plant walked past a pile of hens who had died from gassing, he heard little Aria clucking for help. He and his wife cared for the brave hen until she joined us at Farm Sanctuary, where she lived the rest of her life in our care.

Martin was born into a small flock most likely used for egg production. When the farmer discovered he was a rooster and not a hen, he was surrendered to his forever home at Farm Sanctuary. Sadly, most male chickens meet a very different fate. 

Did you know that more than 300 million newly hatched males, deemed useless because they can’t lay eggs, are killed at hatcheries each year? Some are left to suffocate in plastic bags, while many are dropped into a machine that grinds them up alive.

Chickens are socially and emotionally complex birds who face immense suffering in the egg industry, and it doesn’t have to be this way.

You can stand up for hens and roosters by skipping the egg aisle and picking kinder plant-based foods. Bonus: You’ll be avoiding those high egg prices, too!