On Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:59:55 -0500, Omelet wrote:


> Ps, we purchased some 2 year old "soup" hens a couple of times from a
> local egg ranch. Hens that had lived their entire lives in battery
> laying cages. $2.00 each. It was amazing how quickly the adapted to
> yard life and even flew up into low tree branches with the rest of the
> hens!

Yeah, you can't breed "instinct" out of them, it would seem. That's how we
started out - with two "rescued" hens from some chicken farm. One of them
died within 6 months of old age but the other old lady lasted for about
another 18 months - happily scratching around the yard, taking dust baths
and enjoying the mash we gave her ;-) And right up until about 3 months
before she died she still produced a couple of eggs a week.

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy