The Humane Society of the United States is calling for state and federal investigations after it released undercover video, from one of New England’s largest egg producers, that shows chickens caked in feces and packed in tiny cages, in some cases with dead and mummified birds.
The investigation claims to have found numerous health code violations at the Hillendale Farms’ facility in Turner, Maine, which houses a reported 4 million birds. Violations reportedly include “poisoned rodents found in hens’ cages” and “cages packed so tightly the animals couldn’t spread their wings.”
The facility is operated under long-term lease by Austin “Jack” DeCoster, who along with his son, Peter, is currently appealing a federal criminal conviction related to an Iowa salmonella outbreak in 2010 that “sickened thousands” and prompted a nationwide egg recall.
John Bott, a spokesman for Maine’s Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, released a statement Tuesday confirming the Humane Society’s request for an investigation. The latest exposé comes in the wake of pledges from a growing number of retailers and restaurant chains—including McDonald’s, Aldi, Walmart and Target—that they will shift entirely to cage-free eggs.