Steve Morrow came across a man selling hens on the online auction site Trade Me. Morrow placed a bid assuming that he would be bringing home a couple of hens. However, after winning the bid, the man from Hamilton, New Zealand was informed that he was now the owner of 1000 hens.

In a badly described post, the seller said that he was selling "one 1000" hens. Morrow assumed that the highest bidder would take as many hens as he wanted and the seller would keep the bid open for the rest of the hens.

The hens were located in Massey, West Auckland where they belonged to a small free-range egg farm. The farm was forced to close down and the owners had to vacate the property by November 4. In a desperate effort to find the birds a new home, seller Matthew Blomfield created the post on the trading site.

Chicken
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The Brown Shavers and Highlines birds are of various ages. Blomfield's post indicated that the oldest flock was bought in February, followed by a second in April and a third in June.

Morrow had placed a bid for $20 (£9.94) hoping that he would win a couple of hens. When he realised that he had won the bid, he got in touch with Blomfield to discover that he now had a thousand birds. Blomfield admitted that the post on the website had confusing wording, but he had to get rid of the hens.

Blomfield was glad that Morrow did not go back on his deal. Blomfield told New Zealand news outlet Stuff, that he and Morrow want to ensure that the birds go to safe homes.

Morrow reached out to people on Facebook to find the birds some new owners. According to his post on November 4, all the birds were being checked by vets ahead of adoption. After the vets ensured that the birds were healthy, Animal Sanctuary would help Morrow re-home them.

The overwhelming response from social media has ensured around 700 birds would be going to new homes. Morrow said that he might be keeping around 20 hens. With the help of Animal Sanctuary, Morrow is trying to ensure that none of the hens are left without a coop.

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