Chances are if you have ever visited Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary, you will have been serenaded by a very handsome rooster named Red Baron.

Collateral damage of the egg laying industry, Red Baron was the little chick who refused to die, and that kindness was able to revive.

Gassed, frozen and sold off as snake food, it was a groggy, dazed and fluffy chick and not a meal, that reached the destination.

Proving that the smallest of things can have the biggest of impacts, Red’s life was spared.

Quickly finding sanctuary on the shoulder of the Lady in the Hat at Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary, Red Baron has made it his personal mission to show one and all what endearing, fun-loving, and clever little individuals roosters really are.

Around 50% of hatchlings from the egg laying industry are male. Unable to produce eggs, it’s a little known fact that these tiny baby chicks are killed by the most gruesome of means on the first day of their life.

For hens, life is sadly no better.

Originating from the Red Jungle Fowl of South East Asia who laid around 12 eggs a year, we have selectively bred chickens such as the ISA Brown to now lay over 300 eggs per year. 

This presents hens with life-threatening health issues. 

Egg peritonitis and brittle bones has halved their life expectancy, if they are allowed to live beyond 18 months of age, which is when their “production” drops and they are sent to slaughter.

The egg industry also sees hens cramped in tiny metal cages for the duration of their short lives, or cramped in large “free range” sheds with no access to sunlight, or the ability to be themselves.

The simplest way to help chickens like Red Baron is to leave chicken and eggs off your plate. And with so many delicious alternatives these days, it’s never been easier!

When you make the pledge for Be Kind to Animals Week, you’ll get a free Kindness Kit and delicious plant-based recipes to help get you started.

Because no matter what animals look like, they all need and deserve kindness.