For those with an interest in animal welfare I include a link to an excellent group that helps re-home battery hens.
These hens have a miserable life and the norm is for them to go for slaughter once they are of no further use. The Battery Hen Welfare Trust gives the lucky ones the chance of at least some kind of a natural life before they go to the great hen house in the sky.
There is a newsletter you can subscribe to, and those with a little cash to spare can donate. Even I, famed as I am for my cold and miserly disposition coughed up a few quid. Mind you its tax deductible.
http://www.thehenshouse.co.uk/index.html