Triangle Chicken Advocates

06/09/2026

06/01/2026

The rate at which chickens develop ovarian cancer has been linked in research to the number of times they ovulate, i.e., how many eggs they lay.

Due to selective breeding, by the time a modern hen reaches only two years of age, she has ovulated as much as a human entering menopause.

Because of the prevalence of the disease in laying hens, they are considered the only “natural” model of “spontaneous” ovarian cancer and are commonly used in laboratory research.

There’s no ethical way to consume hens’ eggs. Go vegan for the hens!

05/17/2026

Our good friend Anissa Metheny of Mother Clucker's Microsanctuary is recovering from heart surgery. Please consider chipping in to her medical care if you’re able!

Those who know Anissa Metheny know that we are not exaggerating when we say tha… Sena Crutchley needs your support for Support Anissa's Heart Surgery Recovery

05/15/2026

Mental Health Awareness Week
May 11-17, 2026

Animal rescuers, sanctuary operators, caregivers, and activists face many mental health struggles.

We experience the highs of rescue and rehabilitation, and the lows of death, grief, and permanent loss.

We see how the majority of our fellow humans treat animals with cruelty and violence, or ignore the harms they contribute to even when faced with the reality of their choices.

We strive to balance our own experiences with the needs of the animals in our care, who deserve our presence and attention even when it might be challenging.

We often fear to share our struggles, no matter how big or how small, out of fears of judgment.

We may not have adequate resources to get the help we need, even if we want to try.

All of these experiences can contribute to anxiety, depression, isolation, compassion fatigue, and worse.

This Mental Health Awareness Week, MRC wants to send our love and understanding to anyone in our community who may be struggling.

Best Friends Animal Society’s article “When rescuers need rescuing: managing our mental health” is a good place to start for more information and resources:

bestfriends.org/network/blog/managing-our-mental-health

If you’re struggling, there is help available. Please seek support in whatever way works best for you. ❤️

05/06/2026

05/04/2026

On this International Respect for Chickens Day, we’d like to honor the memory of our “founding hens,” Clementine and Amandine.

When two hens came into a local animal shelter after being found wandering in the winter cold of early 2014, we had no idea our lives would soon be changed forever. At that time, we had been caring for rescued dogs and cats together for a few years; as longtime vegans, we both also had entertained the (perhaps obligatory?) idea of “someday” running a sanctuary for farmed animals at points in the past.

We had no inkling that “someday” was coming soon after we moved to a three-acre property in central North Carolina. Before those two hens, our interest in extending our rescue efforts to farmed animals was sparked when we saw a posting about a stray goat who was being kept at a rural animal shelter and would be going up for auction soon. Together with a small group of vegan friends, we started our farmed animal rescue efforts by identifying individuals in shelters, finding placement at existing sanctuaries, and transporting the animals to their new homes.

When those two hens came to our home from the shelter, we had arranged to transport them to another sanctuary in North Carolina. Thankfully, a snowstorm delayed the trip and gave us the chance to reevaluate. Clementine and Amandine, as we named them, were warm and content in our makeshift basement coop, consisting of some tarps, garden fencing, lumber, and pine shavings. We immediately fell in love with them—every cluck and scratch on the ground fascinated us endlessly. Something shifted for us, and in our growing emotional attachment, we realized they were fast becoming members of our family.

The birth of the “microsanctuary” concept happened in that basement, as two buff hens preened and pecked and explored. As Clementine and Amandine changed us, we changed our perspective on what sanctuary could mean and what sanctuary could be.

Looking at Clementine and Amandine in our basement, we didn’t really see “sanctuary”—at first. Instead, we saw something much closer to what we already had, which was a family of nonhumans. And just as we accommodated the dogs and cats who shared our home, so too could we accommodate the new hen family members with some minor adjustments.

In other words, we realized that we could use the resources that we already had to make that “someday” sanctuary for farmed animals a reality, right now, for two hens.

05/04/2026

Happy International Respect for Chickens Day!

Stuart (pictured) is a survivor of cockfighting and an incredibly loyal, loving, and gentle partner to his hen companion, Little. Every chicken like Stuart is an individual worthy of love, kindness, and respect.

Tell us below about a chicken who changed your idea of who chickens are ⬇️

04/27/2026

Miranda and Ziemniak, two of our youngest residents at 4+ years old, paid a visit to the vet for some preventative healthcare. Both are prone to egg laying-related health disorders, which would likely kill them without proper treatment.

Like many of our residents, Miranda and Ziemniak were abandoned before being rescued. Lack of proper, necessary medical care is one of the many dangers of dumping domesticated birds, yet is a common consequence of small-scale farming.

Go vegan for the birds!

04/23/2026

MRC is excited to announce a new resource: “An Education Starter Guide for Microsanctuaries”!

Vegan education and advocacy is an important component of what sanctuaries do. This resource is for folks who are new to microsanctuaries and/or sanctuary-based outreach.

Our Education Starter Guide begins with discussions of what microsanctuaries are and the philosophy behind important ideas like “small is beautiful” and “caregiving is activism,” which can help microsanctuaries to talk about their work as part of a larger movement.

Then, the guide goes over methods and venues to do sanctuary-based education, covering topics like “residents as ambassadors” and the role of effective storytelling.

Equipped with these ideas and tools, microsanctuaries can find opportunities to advocate for all exploited animals by sharing their residents’ stories before and after rescue.

We hope this new resource will serve as an introduction for those who want to do outreach, as well as a launching pad for additional learning.

Check out the full document on our website and at the link in our bio!