Man accidentally buys 1000 hens from online auction
Steve Morrow had no idea what he was getting into when he put in a peculiar bid on the New Zealand auction site Trade Me.
The sale was for "one 1000" hens, according to Stuff. The ad also read, "As a matter of urgency we need to move approximately 1000 hens." A small free-range egg farm was closing down and needed to re-home its birds. Morrow thought the auction winner would be allowed to take as many hens as he or she pleased, but uh, that's not how it worked.
"When the auction closed, I thought 'this is great', I could take as many birds as I wanted," Morrow told Stuff. "But when I spoke to the man and he said it was for 1000 hens ... holy moly, I was stunned, I can tell you that."
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Morrow said the wording of the ad was "confusing," but the seller, Matthew Blomfield, didn't agree. He told Stuff he thought the ad, which mentioned 1000 hens three times, was clear.
"It's pretty bloody hard to get that wrong," he said.
Now Morrow, the maybe-not-so-proud owner of a 1000 hens, is trying to find homes for the birds.
"He didn't just make a mistake and not follow through," Blomfield told Stuff. "He contacted Animal Sanctuary and they're helping us interview those that have put their hands up – we want to make sure these birds are going to safe homes." Morrow appears to be making significant progress.
After he posted about the incident on social media, at least 700 of the hens reportedly have new homes lined up. Morrow is keeping 20 himself.
So that leaves only about 280 hens still in need of new owners. Any takers?
Topics Animals
Andy is a fellow on Mashable's Culture team. He graduated with a B.S. from the University of North Florida in 2018 and moved to New York to pursue journalism in culture and entertainment. He can (and will) talk for too long about Star Wars and movies in general. His fear of stinging insects and 80+ degree weather will keep him inside forever. He wishes he were shorter.
