The conditions on Tegel's chicken farm are surprisingly normal, as the video of "deformed" chick surfaces

A Tegel farm in Auckland was visited by MPI inspectors after a video showing dead chickens trampled and chickens that seem to be on their backs and unable to move.

Direct Animal Action said it took the video inside Helensville Farm last week. He exposed an industry ruled by unworkable minimum animal welfare rules, which opponents claim allow animal abuse and bad conditions.

Chicks with deformed legs struggling to walk were also shown. were "shocking".

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"We saw chickens that seemed to have been cannibalized, with large open wounds on which chickens unable to straighten … and we found a lot of chickens that were clearly dead for a number of days. "

Direct Animal Action said that he sent the video to the Department of Primary Industries.

A MPI spokesman said an investigation was underway Confirmed inspectors visited Helensville Farm on Friday. He could not tell if any welfare violations had been found during the farm inspection.

Sims stated that the footage in the video violated the Social Protection Code for broilers.

"What we witnessed did not happen every day, you had corpses, you had chickens who were fighting and who should have been killed."

The code states that farmers must move their herds every day and remove corpses, and humanely destroy chickens who can not eat or drink or move properly by putting them in an oxygen-free environment.

It also includes minimum standards for lighting, ventilation, waste management and storage density. In indoor concrete barns, there should be no more than 38 kg live chickens per square meter.

But the standards are not directly enforceable, which means that violations of the minimum standards do not constitute an offense under the Animal Protection Act 1999.

The spokeswoman for the Department of Primary Industries, Helene Ambler, said: "In summary, the threshold of penalties when a minimum standard is broken varies depending on the problem."

Ambler stated that MPI continued to review the images and results of their factory inspection on Friday to determine what next steps would be taken.

In a regulatory impact statement issued by MPI last July, the National Advisory Committee on Animal Ethics recommended that the minimum standards for the Broiler Protection Code, created in 2012, be reviewed before being "sanctioned by law".

He raised concerns about the rapid growth of chicken favored by the industry, claiming that the accelerated weight and growth required to harvest chickens at the age of five weeks have repercussions on the well-being

. "Thinning", or widespread killing of chickens in the event of disease outbreak

Day-old chicks, including all male chicks, may be killed by "instant fragmentation" or "maceration", which causes the death of chicks

Chicken processors, such as Tegal, which is the largest producer of chicken meat in New Zealand, retain chick ownership and outsource growth while retaining control over all aspects of chicken production. chicken farming. rationing of water and medicines.

Direct Animal Action was trying to draw attention to the conditions of raising chickens by fighting a new mega-farm in Arapohue, Kaipara.

Sims says that there was no commercial incentive for this kind of treatment on farms, and it was "just laziness pure" farmers.

The Northland mega-farm project would accommodate up to nine million chickens reared and harvested each year. In its initial plans, the hangars would be filled with 1.3 million chickens at a time, each shed being almost as long as a rugby pitch and 20 meters wide.

Two local councils, the Kaipara District Council and the Northland Regional Council recommend Tegel's request to build the mega farm be rejected by independent commissioners.

Tegel then suspended his requests to counsel to address the concerns described in their reports.

In a recent public offer of the Philippine Bounty Fresh Company, Tegel was valued at $ 438 million.

Tegel reported annual revenue of $ 614 million in 2017. It is estimated that the company is responsible for 52 percent of New Zealand's chicken sales in value.

Tegel did not respond to a request for comment.

A demonstration was organized by Kaipara locals in front of Tegel headquarters on August 8th.

– Practical Information