Posted on 04/28/2022 11:33:18 AM PDT by nickcarraway
More than 27,000 chickens were boiled alive in a ventilation system malfunction, described by a judge as ‘a disaster’.
Hudson & Sanders, the firm managing the Leicestershire poultry farm, were fined £44,000 over the computer failure that happened nearly two years ago.
Leicester Magistrates’ Court heard there were 50,000 chickens at Hose Lodge Farm in Colston Bassett when the systems that regulated air flow failed.
As the temperature in the large barn rose rapidly, more than half of the animals died, while the ones that survived still suffered dramatically.
The birds could not cool down because of the ventilation failure, causing them heat stress, unnecessary suffering and death.
An alarm sounded when the temperature rose to 37°C, alerting staff, but it should have been set to go off 10°C lower, the court was told.
Leicestershire County Council prosecuted Hudson & Sanders for being negligent in its care of the birds, which were being farmed for their meat.
Trading standards also said the company had failed to ensure there were enough staff to look after the chickens and that they were not trained to the level they needed to be.
This meant those on shift did not know what to do at a time of such crisis.
Six months prior the incident, in November 2019, a vet from the Animal and Plant Health Agency had visited the farm, raising concerns about lack of staff and its ventilation plan.
Couple who won £115,000,000 have spent half of it in under two years
Gary Connors, from the county council, said: ‘This was an awful but thankfully rare incident in terms of the scale of unnecessary suffering.
‘However, we hope the level of fine prompts businesses operating in this sector to review their operations to ensure they have adequate staffing and procedures in place to avoid such a distressing incident happening again.’
The court heard Hudson & Sanders had no previous conviction for animal welfare offences and had an otherwise excellent reputation in the industry.
The firm pleaded guilty to four charges under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
That’s fowl! I’ll let myself out……
Still not going vegan.
It sounds more like “baked” than “boiled.”
WTH is gong on here? Another.
At least it isn’t destroyed via fire or plane...
Winner, winner chicken dinner.
Nearly two years ago. YouTuber Johnny B (John Baggins) who mostly does gun rights content put out a video about all the food processing plant issues we’ve been hearing about lately, and a not all of this is as recent as within the past few months.
What a fustercluck!
Global warming! Global Warming! Get the COVID VAX!
Wouldn’t that be roasted, and not boiled?
(Tastes better that way, too!)
“Winner, winner, chicken dinner!”
You said it first, but I thought “roasted”. Great minds!
Murder Most Fowl......................
I did a service call at a chicken farm once where, earlier in the winter, the farmer lost 60,000 chickens to a power failure/generator malfunction during a bitter cold and windy night. The alarm failed so he didn’t find out some of the siding had blown off the building until later the next morning.
Large chicken coops like that smell horrible on a good day.
That must have stunk to high heaven!
Mine all free range.
Hard to find the eggs sometimes.
But most hens are very persistent and consistent.
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