14 Month Chicken Industry Investigation
January 2004 - March 2005 Victoria, Australia

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Rescue Reports

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Rescue 03: Parkhurst Farm (Shed 1), 14 birds removed
march 8, 2004

Seven members of the rescue team entered Shed 1 just before eleven pm and stayed for around an hour. We wore protective clothing and disinfected our footwear with hospital grade disinfectant prior to entering the shed. The birds were approximately four weeks old. The lights were off in the shed and we used our torches and the video camera light to look for the sick and injured.

Within a minute we found a bird that appeared to be missing the top of her head, it was a severe injury which had been left unattended. A crusty black scab was formed on the wound. There were numerous dead bodies on the floor and the litter was in bad condition and caked hard in the areas we inspected.

Several birds were found collapsed and badly dehydrated. They were unable to stand or even lift their heads; there was no way they could reach water or food outlets on their own. The birds we removed from the shed varied in weight from 800 grams to 1.4 kilos. The two birds weighing only 800 grams were extremely weak and unable to stand. One of these birds had a hardened callous on her chest bone from lying in the litter and had obviously been left unattended for quite some time.

The air in the shed was thick and putrid; some of the birds were making raspy breathing noises. Eleven of the fourteen birds we removed were euthanized by the vet because their condition was so poor.

Click on any photo for larger version (photos: noah hannibal / ALV)


horrific injury probably sustained from careless handling during shed population process

more photos: photo gallery

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