Sanctuary Rescues 1000 Iowa Chickens Set to be Euthanized

These Iowa chickens are lucky. More than 1000 hens escaped death and will now be living the good life in California.

According to WHO-TV a California farm animal sanctuary spent thousands of dollars to send two cargo planes to Iowa to rescue 1,000 chickens that were going to be euthanized at a struggling egg farm in Fort Dodge. The name of the farm hasn't been released.

Animal Place loaded chickens onto the planes Saturday morning at the Fort Dodge, Iowa, airport. The group planned to fly the hens in more than 60 crates to California, where they will be taken to the group’s sanctuary near Sacramento.

The Iowa farm planned to kill the chickens but agreed instead to give them to the California rescue, which will rehabilitate the hens and adopt them to people in California.

Rescue staff say it's likely the chickens have lived their lives in cages and probably have never had their feet touch real grass. The chickens' rehabilitation process takes about two weeks to a month.

The cost to charter the planes was covered by an Animal Place donor.