At Barn Sanctuary, we are lucky to be touched by the lives of so many incredible animals. Each new rescue that comes to call Barn Sanctuary home has their own story, personality, and journey of resilience.
However, as with all life, we understand that everybody’s story must eventually come to an end. Loss is the most difficult part of life (and of running a sanctuary), and there is no way to measure the sadness that comes when a resident passes. This past six weeks has been especially hard as we said goodbye to six of our beloved feathered friends: Betty, Stanley, Dianna, Cheska, Dani, and Larry.
Betty, Stanley, Dianna, Dani and Cheska were rescued from dire circumstances and were sick and weak when they arrived at Barn Sanctuary. With the care that they received from our Animal Care Team, they were able to flourish. Larry, lucky enough to be born at Barn, was treated with love and respect his entire life. At the sanctuary, the six made friends, explored their homes, and indulged in treats and affection from our team and visitors to the sanctuary.
Raised as Commodities
Turkeys, chickens, and all animals that have been bred and raised for food develop serious medical conditions which prevent them from living a full and natural life, though only a tiny percentage of them are ever afforded that opportunity. Through selective breeding and genetic modification over decades, these once-wild birds have been changed drastically into meat and egg producing machines. Turkeys and broiler chickens – chickens bred for meat production – have been bred to rapidly gain excessive weight, and within only a few short months, their feet and legs suffer from the burden of extra weight. Their hearts can barely keep up with their increased body size.
Chickens like Dianna, Dani and Cheska have been bred to produce eggs unnaturally quickly. On factory farms, like where Dianna, Dani and Cheska were rescued from, egg-laying hens are subjected to cruel, stressful conditions to rapidly increase their egg production. What once was one of the most natural processes for chickens like them is now a strenuous and dangerous one. The wild jungle fowl that chickens were bred from only lay about a dozen eggs per year. Today’s factory-farmed hens lay around three hundred annually. The toll this takes on them, physically and mentally, is inhumane and unnecessary.
Larry, a male, would normally be considered useless to the egg industry because he cannot produce. Instead of being viewed and treated as an individual, as he deserves, he would be considered a commodity. His life would have ended just after it had begun, instead of having the chance at the life he received at Barn Sanctuary. Each year, billions of chicks lose their lives simply because they were born male.
A Chance at Life
The love, attention, and care that our Animal Care Team provides to each resident is unconditional, but it cannot prevent or hold off the health conditions that have been created by our unsustainable and cruel modern food systems forever. Chickens and turkeys were not bred to live as long as Betty, Stanley, Dianna, Dani, Cheska and Larry. If they had not been rescued by Barn and instead went through today’s food system, they would not have lived to see their first birthday.
As devastating as these losses are to us, they reignite our desire to make a positive impact on the world by continuing to protect farmed animals and speak up for those we cannot rescue. We’re honored that Betty, Stanley, Dianna, Dani, Cheska, and Larry spent their days at Barn Sanctuary and knew what love and compassion is rather than the cold, cruel lives they were bred for.
Saying Goodbye
Please join us in remembering our dear friends Betty, Stanley, Dianna, Dani, Cheska, and Larry, and thank you for helping us protect lives like theirs.
