Activist Diana Simpson films a dead rat hanging in the wire in the filthy conditions at Montalto's Poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. This degraded battery hen farm is no less than a torture chamber for hens and has been labeled "The Rat City" by Australian activists.
One of the rescued hens recovers on soft toweling after a horrifying experience trapped in "The Rat City" Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. Activists have placed a little bandage around her head to absorb the moisture from a weeping ulcer that has developed on her other eye.
Activist Debra Tranter holds a rescued hen from "The Rat City" Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. Epping is just outside Melbourne. This battery farm is right next door to a major highway and a built up residential area. It can be easily seen and accessed from the main roads.
Battery hens crammed into cages at Montalto's poultry farm, many of which have their wings, necks and legs stuck in broken and protruding wire. Birds are found strangled by the wire, their corpses eaten by the many rats that inhabit the sheds.
A rescued hen from Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. Like most battery hens she is unable to walk or stand without assistance. She is emaciated and has lost most of her feathers.
A activist reaches in through the broken rusty wiring of the tiny battery hen cages at Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia in order to untangle a hen's legs and lift her to safety. The cage doors at this particular farm are in one layer and can be opened from the top.
It is common to find battery hens that have huge raw swollen patches such as these on their bodies. This is believed to be caused by the rubbing of the hens bodies on the wires that they stand on. Hens confined to tiny cages have burn marks on many parts of their bodies caused by rubbing. The feathers are lost and then the raw skin becomes swollen and may be infected with the hens own urine and excrement. Just another abhorrent cruelty inflicted on living birds by the Australian egg industry.
The corpse of a battery hen that had dropped out of a cage and left to wander and starve in the built up manure.
The dead body is photographed amongst piles of smashed open eggs, decomposing bodies of rats, hen excrement, urine, feathers and other unnamable horrors. The breakfast eggs of the unwary Australian public are sitting in broken wire racks just above this mess.
Battery hen campaigner Patty Mark, gently holds up a newly rescued hen for the camera inside the sheds at Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia.
Hens who escape from cages in-between gaps end up in the manure pits beneath. Battery hens who get out of cages wander starving through the fallen manure of thousands of other hens above them. The manure dries and hardens on their tiny feet forming into compacted balls. These are called 'manure balls.' Manure balls can be the size of golf balls and are attached to each of the hen's claws.
Activists once spent 3-4 hours chipping away with a chisel and hammer alternatively soaking the manure balls in a bucket of warm soapy water in order to remove them. The last stage of removing the manure balls from the hens from Montalto's poultry farm took 1 1/2 hours and was done by using a chisel, and by carefully peeling away the now softened manure ball like an onion from the hen's feet with a small vegetable knife.
Two hens rescued from the filthy hell hole of Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia are suffering from severe feather loss and malnourishment. Their breast bones are protruding and most of the main feathers are lost from the wings.
Hundreds of rats live inside the sheds at this particular property giving it the title "The Rat City."
A fleeing rat runs across the tops of the cages at Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia.
The rotting corpses of dead rats who have got their bodies entangled in wire hang above the battery hen cages inside Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. Activists who have visited "The Rat City" stood in the dark wondering what the pattering noise was that appeared to be coming at them for all directions. Once the shed lights came on, hundreds of rats ran across the tops of cages escaping the light.
Eye tumours are a common occurrence amongst battery hens at Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. Many of the hens have tumours covering either one or both eyes. When these tumours split open thick white pus squirts out. Vets will often slit the tumours to start the healing process. Many hens will never recover their full sight and balance after having grown tumours such as these.
One activist had pus squirted onto her face, as she nursed a hen with eye tumours on the way home from a rescue. It is important when removing these hens not to let the tumour touch anything such as clothing, bags, or wire that will cause the tumour to split and squirt pus. These blind hens must be taken to a vet for immediate attention. This hen has also been debeaked.
Corpses of hens that have died inside cages are eaten clean by rats leaving behind hen skeletons. Hungry rats are not afraid to be inside the cages with the battery hens who have no means of escape. Terrified hens were heard to suddenly scream out or cough softly to themselves in the darkness of the sheds of "The Rat City" just outside Melbourne.
A rescued hen from Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia stands on a white towel. She is suffering from emaciation, feather loss and is barely able to move. This is not what a hen should look like. This little hen is now being looked after at a loving home.
A corpse rotting with the eggs at Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. Rotting corpses are so common inside these battery hen farms, that activists can easily pull twenty to thirty corpses from cages within 30 minutes of being inside a shed. Hens are forced to nest, sit, sleep and lay their eggs in the rotting corpses of other hens who have perished inside cages. Eggs were also found next to an on the rotting corpses of rats. This is where many an unwary consumer's fatty breakfast eggs come from.
A strip of battery cages inside the sheds at "The Rat City" or Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. Note the two rotting corpses in the wire where the eggs fall down after being laid.The manure beneath is so high that it reaches up into the cages where the hens are standing.
This rescued white hen has a huge eye tumour, has been debeaked and is barely able to stand. It is very likely that she will have to be euthanased. A majority of hens rescued from battery hen farms like Montalto's in Australia, are so sick and injured that they will not survive to see their new home.
In the wild and if left to their own devices hens love to dust and sun bathe, scratch around for food and trinkets and roost in branches at night. The feet of these poor imprisoned hens are permanently curled around the wire on the bottom of the cages inside the dark sheds. This wire is often broken, jagged and caked with hen urine and excrement. Daylight will never touch them.
An activist holds a rescued hen from Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. She had a manure ball attached to her claws. If left to wander in the manure pits she would have developed larger and more numerous manure balls on her feet, which would have stopped her from being able to walk. She would have eventually starved to death. Note the way in which the activist's holds the hen either side so she can't flap her wings. This is the correct way to hold a hen when involved in lifting and rescue.
The rotting corpse of a dead rat hangs down in-between the wires at "The Rat City" at Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. The corpses of dozens of dead rats rot amongst the eggs that unwary Australian consumers will be handling in their kitchens and eating for breakfast. As if eggs weren't unhealthy enough already! The Australian battery hen system is not only cruel to hens, it is unhealthy to humans.
An activist inspects the battery cages for sick, injured and dying hens in the filthy sheds at "The Rat City" Montalto's poultry farm in Epping, Victoria, Australia. She is carrying a pillow case and water for the birds.
These rescued hens and others like them are now living out the rest of their lives in peace at a sanctuary.
In this photo of Montalto's poultry farm in Epping Victoria, Australia, manure is piled up beneath the cages. The wire is broken and twisted causing many of the confined hens to injure themselves on the sharp ends or to become entangled and twisted up in the faulty wiring. These unfortunate hens will never see daylight or be able to spread their wings.
This poor little hen like many others is suffering from a lice infestation, severe feather loss and emaciation.
Two rescued hens from Montalto's Poultry farm in Epping, Victoria Australia now rest quietly and safely in a pet box at peace for the first time. Soon they will be transported to a sanctuary were they will be able to live out the rest of their lives in peace with people who will not torture or kill them.
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Animal Liberation Victoria
394 Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia.
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