It’s one of those small things we can do that helps someone a whole lot.

Yes, that’s right I’m getting the soapbox out again.

Last week I happened to meet Goulburn local Michelle McAleer and her brood of 10 adopted chickens.

Now, adopting chooks is not something I’d even thought of before.

Cats and dogs sure, but chickens? After moving into a new home which had a lovely vacant chicken coop that was too good to go to waste, and being conscious of the suffering of factory hens, Michelle set about finding chooks that needed a home.

The search led her to Catherine Smith of NSW Hen Rescue.

Catherine began rescuing hens on the Central Coast in 2010, after a local egg farmer switched their operations from battery cages to barn laid egg farming.

In that first year she rehoused 350 hens into loving homes.

Now based in Sydney, NSW Hen Rescue is placing between 10 to 20 hens into new homes every week.

Many rescued hens are in poor health, depending on the type of situation they’ve come from.

Often they’re suffering with lice, worms, broken wings, and malnutrition.

Chickens come to be in foster care after being retrieved from factory farming.

Not all egg farmers maltreat their chickens but there are some big mass producing ones that expect a hen to lay eggs twice a day and this results in sick chickens.

While it is hard work, especially given the care some hens need at the start, Catherine says that every time she sees a newly freed hen take her first steps into the outside world it makes it all worthwhile.

When they arrive at a farm to rescue hens they are often greeted with the sight of thousands of chickens, and choices need to be made on which chickens are saved from the slaughter, as you can imagine this would be tough and overwhelming.

In the time since their adoption Michelle’s chickens have flourished, adjusting well to their new life in Goulburn.

The hens are a special edition to her household keeping the whole family on their toes with their escapades, “I’m so happy knowing that they will enjoy simple pleasures (like dust baths), for as long as they will live and that they are no longer a commodity.

“I’m glad to know I made a difference for these girls”.

If you are willing to put the effort in you can find a rescue organisation for almost any kind of domestic animal - there is even one for foxes! So next time you are is seeking a furred or feathered new addition to the family, keep in mind the idea of rehoming a rescued animal.

If you’d like to know more about hen rescue, or you can help out please head to http://henrescue.org for more information.

The organisation relies solely on donations to keep going, and volunteer foster carers.