Xanadu All-Beings Sanctuary

05/16/2020

There has been a huge mobilization from all over the country to save as many of these birds as possible. I'm so honored to have been part of their freedom ride. After quarantine at Apple Valley, two of these sweet angels will make their home at Xanadu. 🤩

Apple Valley has taken in 28 of these special birds. If you feel moved to help, please consider a donation to their rescue. These aren't even the only animals taken in by Apple Valley just this week!!

Thanks to everyone who reached out to me to try to help. 1000s of birds have been pulled and taken to sanctuaries. Of course, it was just a small fraction of the 140,000 that lived their entire lives in a cage in a shed. These sweet souls get to learn a whole new life.

On May 13 we learned of an egg farm in Iowa that was bankrupt and more than 140,000 hens would be gassed to death. You read that correctly: 140,000 plus birds. The farmer apparently decided to let people in to take some of the hens before they were scheduled to die. Some exceptional volunteers were on the ground in Iowa pulling as many birds as they could save while simultaneously watching other birds be pulled by farm staff and gassed to death. Fortunately working alongside the volunteers pulling birds were transporters willing to drive these birds to their sanctuary destinations all over the country. We didn’t hesitate to offer whatever help or relief we could provide and offered to take some of these hens in. After more than 800 miles and 16 hours in a car, our sanctuary received some of these beautiful hens on Friday morning, May 15. Devastatingly, 2 of the hens rescued did not survive their freedom ride to us, but we now have 28 precious souls here with us.

These hens have never seen the light of day and their little feet have never touched the ground. They’ve never been able to do the things that chickens naturally do such as sunbathing, dustbathing, or scratching around in the dirt. They are pale and emaciated with tremendous feather loss, and their bones are brittle from lack of calcium. They have literally been held captive in a tiny cage with 4 to 5 of their “sisters” only inches above a manure pit of fetid waste from thousands of birds forced to lay egg after egg after egg for human consumption. They are terrified of humans and I can only imagine that’s because they have had very little interaction and what interaction they had was probably rough and callous. They literally scream with terror and scramble into the corners of the coop seeking safety in only each other every single time I open the door and it’s so utterly heartbreaking it’s difficult to describe. We had to go in during the night last night to “declump” them as with most rescued egg farm hens they are so terrified they will often times unintentionally suffocate each other as they are seeking shelter and comfort by climbing on and sleeping on each other. During this process one hen was so scared she was running blind and ran right into my arms. I scooped her up and began to rock her back and forth in the dark, speaking softly and reassuringly. She nestled her head into my chest and gave a long sigh. I stroked what was left of her feathers and told her it was all going to be okay now. She was free and she will be loved and cared for, for the rest of her life. This morning of course in the light of day I’m still the scary human and she ran for the safety of her sisters in the corner as I was bringing in their food. This is what trauma from imprisonment looks like. Chickens are very intelligent and emotional beings and I’m looking forward to watching them break free of the chains that held them and enjoying their new life of freedom, but it will be a long, arduous process.

This is what the egg industry looks like. I made a post earlier in the week about every carton of eggs having a victim and here they are: the victims. I am begging you to think of these girls every time you go to purchase a carton of eggs and just don’t do it. Please leave eggs off of your plate.

These ladies are going to need very intensive and specialized care for quite some time, and quite frankly they deserve nothing less. Would you be able to help us provide bedding, feed and medications? Any amount you can spare would mean everything to us and to them.

https://www.paypal.me/avfs
https://applevalleyfarmsanctuary.org/donate
venmo: @applevalleyfarmsanctuary

05/13/2020

Tomorrow, I will be heading to Nebraska to pick up at least 10 of these chickens. I have room for potentially many more. Please message us if you are interested in caring for one or more of these chickens and located in the Front Range Colorado area. They need a lot of love, and I want to get as many out of there as possible!

🚨RESCUE ALERT🚨

Today we joined forces with Barn Sanctuary to rescue egg laying hens from a CAFO that is going out of business due to COVID-19. We were alerted to the situation by our supporters and immediately contacted the farmer, who told us he had 140,000 birds that were going to die if nobody came for them. We mobilized as fast as possible, with Dan and Kelly from Barn Sanctuary driving through the night to join us.

Nothing could prepare us for what we experienced on scene at the CAFO. As we pulled in, we could see piles of deceased hens on the ground and loose feathers strewn everywhere. We watched as excavators dumped the lifeless bodies of innocent hens into compost pits. We pulled ourselves together and reminded ourselves of our plan – to save as many lives as we had homes for.

Upon entering the CAFO, we quickly realized that the situation was dire. In typical CAFO fashion, the birds were packed into small battery cages, sometimes up to 10 birds per cage. And in every single cage, there was at least one deceased hen – trampled to death by her terrified companions and in some stage of decay. The filthy rows of tightly packed cages smelled pungently of urine, f***s and fear.

To our horror, as we gently retrieved frail hens from their cages, the CAFO workers continued to grab birds from their cages – by the throat, wings, and feet – shoving them into boxes, which were then connected to a CO2 machine, through which their lives were extinguished. We witnessed a mass killing of the innocent.

IFS rescued 39 hens today and Barn Sanctuary rescued 23. It gnaws at our soul that we could not save more. All of the hens are in desperate shape. Because the farmer could not afford to feed them, they are all malnourished and many are anemic. As is typical with CAFO conditions, the hens are missing entire patches of feathers and their nails are so long that it would be incredibly difficult for them to walk – a basic function that they have been deprived of their entire lives. They are pale, weak, and exhausted. But now they are free.

The egg industry is not victimless. As you can see in the photos, egg laying hens live in conditions so horrendous that if the sight alone does not take your breath away, the knowledge of its smell will. We force these innocent beings into existence, only to hold them captive and steal from them, and then dispose of them like inanimate objects when they can no longer serve us. No egg is ever worth this kind of suffering. Please do not turn away from their plight.

All 39 hens rescued by IFS today survived their freedom ride to the sanctuary. Right now, they are resting comfortably and receiving electrolytes in their water to help with their dehydration. Our veterinarian will be coming to the sanctuary as soon as possible to evaluate their individual conditions and medical needs. Any amount you can donate towards the care of these horribly abused survivors will make a tremendous difference. 🙏

02/10/2020

Norma insisted on joining us for meditation today. Her angelic presence seems to have channeled some extra light into our zen room. 👼🕊️💜

01/06/2020

Snuggles.

12/26/2019

Xanadu All-Beings Sanctuary

We hope everyone out there spent the holidays precisely how they would most enjoy them. Here at Xanadu, Christmastime is especially fun, because 2 years ago, our sweet rooster boy Glee gave us a precious gift in the form of eternal laughter. If you have not seen the video yet, please enjoy! If you've already seen it, thanks for being here with us at Xanadu. We wish to bring you many more smiles and laughs in the coming years.

That moment you suspect the Harry Potter series might be too scary for your rooster.

(Play with sound)

12/19/2019

Thank you beautiful friends Apple Valley Farm Sanctuary for letting me tag along on a rescue adventure! So glad to share in a successful mission. Teamwork makes the dream work!

Today was a very good day. 💜 With the assistance from our friends at Xanadu All-Beings Sanctuary were able to make the 6 hour round trip to rescue these two dumped ducks off of a nearly completely frozen lake near Alamosa today. They somehow managed to survive not only predators but temps dropping to -20 to -30 degrees last night. Tonight they are safe and warm with food in their bellies. Please don’t dump ducks. They cannot fend for themselves.

12/15/2019

Judy is such a good sport!! Thank you to everyone who has donated to our raffle. We are truly grateful and humbled by your support of our tiny little rescue. We have some special creatures here, and we feel so blessed to be able to share them with you!!!

This is the last day of the raffle❗ Entries are $5 each. There are three ways to enter:
Venmo: @xanadusanctuary
PayPal: PayPal.me/xanadusanctuary
Or, you can find our wishlist on Amazon!!

Good luck and thank you to everyone!! We will contact you this evening if you are a winner!!

Original post: https://facebook.com/XanaduSanctuary/photos/a.223447501524851/624584554744475/

12/13/2019

Actual video of me bringing blueberries to the chickens.

12/10/2019

When we've needed help, you've always responded with kindness and generosity--and Bonnie wouldn't be here otherwise!

She's basically punk-rock in chicken-form. A bear tried but couldn't kill her--he only made her weirder. She gets around blueberries and you better watch out. I mean that. It's hard to believe she--and in fact the entire flock to which she belongs--has been with us for over two years now!

We need your help again. If you haven't already, please check out our pinned post to learn about the raffle we're running. The drawing is in just five days! Please message us if you have any questions.

Thank you, your incredible support has allowed us to care for our animal family this long, and we are forever grateful!

Link: https://www.facebook.com/XanaduSanctuary/photos/a.223447501524851/624584554744475/?type=3&theater

11/29/2019

I brought treats, but Glee only wants to pose and show off for me. I'm okay with that! 😍🐓

11/26/2019

Hi everyone! We've had some unexpected (and expensive) home repairs pop up over the past couple of months, so instead of just straight up asking for help, we thought we'd do a fun raffle!!

***RAFFLE DETAILS***

We have 4 copies of the wonderful book, Why Would Anyone Rescue A Chicken?, donated by the amazing photographer Janet Holmes (@frogoutofwaterphotos) and four cute little crocheted chickens, handmade by me!! The photo book contains a picture of me and our best boy Glee, the Rooster Who Lived.

$5 will get you an entry into the raffle, with no limit for entries!!!

There are three ways to donate to enter. You can make your donation directly through PayPal or Venmo:
PayPal: www.paypal.me/xanadusanctuary
Venmo: @xanadusanctuary

OR, we can always use more feed! We have an Amazon wishlist set up. If you make a purchase from the wishlist, we will give you the number of entries corresponding to the cost of the item you select.
Amazon wishlist: www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/OGS6H1SPI7BZ

If you would prefer to mail a check or cash, please message us for details.

We will draw for 4 winners on Sunday, December 15th and will ship on the 16th, which should hopefully give enough time if you'd like to give this as a gift to a chicken lover on your holiday gift list!

All of us here at Xanadu Sanctuary are eternally grateful for all of your support and love. We love being able to care for all of these special little angels, and really enjoy sharing them with everyone here. Animal rescue and care isn't easy, but we wouldn't want to be doing anything else. Thank you so much for considering a donation to support us!! And, if you enter the raffle, GOOD LUCK!!

11/26/2019

Neil emerges sleepily from his cozy lair to monch some oatmeal.

11/18/2019

Norma, probably looking for the millet she left in my hair.

10/10/2019

Fifi knows that some days--the first snowy day of the season, when no one wants to leave the coop, for instance--it's a really good thing being small enough to fit under your best friend's butt. 💗💞❤️

10/08/2019

One of Neil's favorite hobbies is pushing his blanket pieces inbetween the wires of his cage. He's almost as good at it as he is at being a Grade A cutie pie. Certified. 🎖️

10/04/2019

This heckin cupcake. 😍🤩😘

09/29/2019

I'm not going to sugar-coat this. Norma has not been super excited about us finding her a friend. Here she is in various poses of protest but I know deep down her heart is slowly warming. Hopefully she gives in soon so Lepus can help rid her of those feather casings all over her face.

09/29/2019

Another beautiful day for a meeting of the Cheyenne Mountain Backyard Dinosaur Club.

09/22/2019

It's the end of the squirrel train. I left all these precious babies at Wildheart Rocky Mountain Rehab. Please say a prayer for them, just being orphaned is an uphill battle. And of course, well meaning people often give abandoned babies food that they shouldn't. These little ones are in capable hands. 🙏

09/21/2019

Is this the best day ever??? Another squirrel intake in Aurora. I'm up to 8 on the squirrel train today. 🚂🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🕊️

09/21/2019

One of the seven tiny little nuggets I now have to take with me back to the Springs. 😍😍😍😍😍

09/21/2019

Big day today. I just arrived in Cheyenne, WY to pick up another feral pigeon with a bad leg, to be a buddy for Norma. What a cutie!!!

This is only the first leg of my journey. Next I will head to a vet in Denver to pick up some squirrels on my way back to Colorado Springs, where there is a wildlife center that is capable of rehabilitating them. Soon my car will be bursting with babies animals!!! More pictures to come!!

I appreciate any warm thoughts you send my way as I continue hurtling back down the highway with precious cargo. If you would like to contribute with gas (or maybe even buy me a coffee, lol) we would always appreciate here. We run lean here at Xanadu, but that doesn't stop us from attempting to do what we are fully capable of.
Paypal: PayPal.me/xanadusanctuary
Venmo: @xanadusanctuary

09/20/2019

One week spent on stray hold in a kennel in the basement of the Humane Society... Sure feels good to take a dust bath!! Help us welcome home our newest angel resident, Hypatia! She's a bit nervous, but after some lettuce, grapes, and a dust bath, we know she will feel right at home. As you can hear in the video, the other chicken residents have a lot to say about their new friend!

09/12/2019

Good morning from us at Xanadu Sanctuary! We've had such a hectic month, finally we have a day to spend being at home with all our beautiful and cherished companions. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

09/11/2019

We hope you enjoy this video of Judy getting a belly rub as much as we do. 😂🤣 Watch til the end for maximum derp!

09/02/2019

When you have three beds but they become one super bed.

08/20/2019

Once upon a time this trashcan was a clothes hamper for animal laundry, but that was before Norma decided to make it her nest. Sure she has a room with fancy baskets and even her own chair from Ikea, but she prefers to sit in the bin so we're out a hamper. It's hers now. Whatever, to each their own, especially sweet little pidgies. 🥰

08/08/2019

Judy knows that she's no good to anyone if she doesn't escape to the mountains every-so-often for some self-care.

We could all learn a lot from Judy.

08/04/2019

When you make an alteration to the pigeons' seed mix and they communicate very clearly to you, "no thanks on the buckwheat groats, sis". 😂

PS - this is the seed mix for Aquila and Cygnus, who usually aren't too picky. Norma's mix is a constant work in progress as she would eat millet exclusively if I let her!

07/30/2019

Small surveillance cameras are cheap these days on Amazon, but being able to check on my feathered angels (and the wonderful view from our bedroom😭🤩) while I'm at work is priceless.

07/28/2019

Bonnie and Fiona are finally beginning to emerge from their broody self-exile. They have spent most of their time in the coop this past month, usually with Bonnie sitting atop Fifi as if she were an egg. Now, as they snap out of it and start to venture out more and more we can't help but notice they seem to have developed a close friendship and frankly it's adorable. We're so blessed to watch up-close while their relationships evolve over time.