At first, we built this - thinking only a few birds would be able to be rescued. The house stayed empty for months - seems that we weren't going to be able to penetrate a "factory" as planned	Then as odd as this sounds, I ran into an website with a shelter that had "two red-hen chicks".  "Huh"?  At first my mind couldn't grasp a shelter with birds - let alone the idea that they were to be killed the next day.  We drove there (an hour away) - sure enough..... there were 2 small chicks about 3 months old in this cage surrounded by too many dogs and cats.	We adopted "Eunice and Chicklet" for $2.00 *each.                                              One of the best "deals" we ever got....
Then a phone call came - from the friend of a friend who worked in a chicken egg factory - we were "on" finally.....		We managed to rescue 12 "egg hens" - in varing degrees of ill health and condition..... many had so much poop on them - their feathers were glued together.....
	We also expanded their area...... added many levels of roosts and things to explore......
The first week - some of the eggs they laid were like rubber.... Very alien - there was really no shell - just membrane surrounding fluid..... It was ugly - Although this has passed, guess I'll ask Karen Davis at http://www.upc-online.org/ what it might have been - perhaps a drug imbalance? or a nutritional issue?
As time goes on - each is developing her own personality and quirkiness - But the friendliest of all is "Ginger" - she really wants to be a pet....	The one who is most shy..... and usually on the bottom of the "pecking order" is Henna..... Henna crouched to the right......	And don't ask why..... even though their are several roosts - at night, they all vie for positions atop these two perches..... I've seen 5 fit to each - They are comical and amazing to watch as they calculate their flight to manuver themselves in.....
	I'm on a mission to find stuff they like... watermelon was a bust - but they seem to like popcorn, raisins and sunflower seeds.   And they do love their own (boiled) eggs as well...	"RUTH"
I really need to get some pictures of them dust bathing - I was never prepared for some of the giant holes they dig out!  They love to cover their bodies almost completely immersed in the ground.....		But for now - this picture's gonna have to say it all.....