When a lorry carrying 6,800 live chickens crashed close to their home by the M62, Louise Fields and Emma Billington ventured out in the early hours of the morning to launch a 3 hour rescue mission.
The two women set up a chicken rescue headquarters at their farm (pictured), which included a chicken hospital for those with nasty injuries from the crash.
It was not until three weeks after the crash, however, that they discovered another heroic survivor. Lucky the hen was found cowering at the side of the busy thoroughfare 20 days after the incident.
“We thought it amazing how those hens spent their entire life in a cage, suffered the trauma of a crash surrounded by screams and blood, and that Lucky still managed to survive relying on her own instincts,” Louise remarked. “If it were a human that had come through all of that, they would be the heroes of legend.”
Louise, Emma, and a group of volunteers are still in the process of re-homing all of the chickens through their organisation Hens 4 Rescue. They are also aiming to raise awareness of the effects of battery farming through the group Justice for Hens.
“It takes a long time to put 400 chickens to bed every night! But of course it is completely worth it knowing, as we put the last one in and closed that door, that they are all tucked up and safe for the night.”
The women have done amazing work, and are just as heroic as their amazing hen Lucky.
