Egg company director jailed over death of 2,000 hens

Highland Council said its environmental health team were faced with "harrowing animal welfare issues"

The former director of a free-range egg company has been jailed for a string of animal welfare and hygiene offences which led to the deaths of 2,000 hens.

Peter Armitage, who was based in Caithness, Sutherland, was also banned from keeping animals for 15 years.

His ex-employee Kyle Mackay, 24, was given a Community Payback Order.

Both men admitted causing unnecessary suffering to adult hens by failing to provide them with sufficient food and water, resulting in their deaths.

Warning: This story contains descriptions and images that some readers may find upsetting.

They also pled guilty to allowing pigs access to hens, resulting in them attacking, killing, and eating some of them.

Wick Sheriff Court heard the offences occurred between September 2016 and September 2017.

On Thursday Armitage was sentenced to two years and three months while Mackay, who was 17 at the time, was ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work.

One of the chicken sheds was found to be "carpeted" with what looked like a whole flock of decomposing birds

Highland Council said its environmental health team were faced with "harrowing animal welfare issues".

Armitage, 41, had owned and operated an egg laying unit trading as Caithness Free Range Eggs Ltd.

His operation was based at Lochquoy Farm, Durran, by Castletown.

The court heard the company came to the attention of the council following an anonymous email on 7 July 2017.

It stated: "Rats and dead chickens lying everywhere the place is disgusting they need shut down, this place is not up to standards for any animal to live in, the poor chickens look like they are dying."

On 18 July an unannounced inspection was carried out council environmental health officers and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The team discovered dead birds and parts of dead birds as they walked around the filthy farm, which was in a poor state of repair.

Pigs mixed openly with hens on the farm

They also witnessed pigs roaming around the outbuildings and chicken houses, some with chicken feet and feathers hanging out of their mouths.

One of the chicken sheds was also found to be "carpeted" with what looked like a whole flock of decomposing birds.

Bird carcasses were also found within the egg collection areas, where trays of boxed eggs on benches were covered in bird faeces and rat droppings.

A farm worker said that the chickens had been dead for "about a month and a half".

The following day a second inspection found the hens and pigs had access to bait boxes which contained rat poison.

Armitage ceased trading with immediate effect and was told to stop feeding the pigs raw eggs and prevent them from accessing the hen houses.

Trays of eggs were found covered in bird faeces and rat droppings

Armitage also admitted four additional charges that included failing to keep the premises clean and in a good state of repair; failing to take adequate steps to control pests; feeding pigs with eggs and eggshells; and failing to take reasonable measures to protect 6,000 hens from suffering and disease.

Meanwhile, Mackay pled to a further charge of failing to provide sufficient food and water to a calf which died.

Following the sentencing Andy Shanks, procurator fiscal for Grampian, Highland and Islands, said: "The animal welfare and hygiene failings at Lochquoy Farm caused unnecessary suffering and pain to thousands of birds and introduced a significant public health risk through the supply of potentially contaminated eggs to wholesale and retail outlets across the Highland region."

Alan Yates, the council's strategic lead officer for environmental health said the case was "particularly traumatic".

He added: "The conditions on the farm resulted in the suffering and death of thousands of birds and created a significant public health risk through the supply of potentially contaminated eggs to businesses across the Highlands."