Grace Kelly the hen
My name is Grace Kelly and I never met my mum. My first memory was moving along a line with all of my brothers and sisters. We were terrified. There was a lot of noise and people kept grabbing us. My sisters – Marilyn, Vivienne, Lucille, Mae, and Audrey – and I were thrown back in line but our brothers disappeared. One of the people grabbed me before I could try to escape and forced my beak into a hot cutting machine that cut part of my beak off – it hurt!
Once we were older my sisters and I were crammed into a barn. It was so crowded! I liked the girls I was in the barn with but we were so bored and stressed. I know they didn’t mean to hurt me but they pecked at me and pulled my feathers out.
We couldn’t get away from each other and because we were desperate fights broke out over the food. We were laying eggs everyday. We were exhausted.
The barn was noisy and smelt very strong. It burnt my throat when I breathed in. I didn’t lay as many eggs anymore.
One day the barn opened and a pair of rough hands grabbed me. I was taken out of the barn and blinded by the light outside. I’d never seen the sky before!
My five sisters and I were placed into softer gentler hands. A kind, soothing voice spoke to me and I was put into a box. I didn’t know what was happening but the new persons’ voice made me feel better.The box opened and I was lifted out and put down on the ground. The soft, green ground felt nice on my feet and I was breathing fresh air! It was so nice to stretch out my legs and wings.
My sisters and I didn’t trust the new girls we met straight away – we were a bit shy at first and hid a lot. But the others had been in this new place longer than us. They showed us where we could eat and drink water whenever we wanted. We roamed and explored during the day and slept on clean soft straw at night. I love my new home but I get sad when I think about the hens left behind in the barn.
