– Hens on the farm are kept in tight cages, without sunlight. It's stuffy and very noisy there, because the stressed hens are constantly screaming. They are simply treated like egg-laying machines – reports an activist associated with the Otwarte Cages association, who documented the conditions and treatment of animals there for a month and a half.
The case of the farm in Bobrzany in the province Lubuskie describes Open Cages and the portal Virtual Poland. Hens raised in so-called cage farming are crammed into small metal cages. The photos and videos show that many of them are missing some of their plumage, and some have their paws deformed by living on metal rods. Numerous dead birds have been documented and their removal is one of the workers' tasks.
The portal also reports that a farm employee observed forcible stuffing, carrying by the neck, hitting and pinching of paws while transferring them to transport cages.
The company denies the accusations
The described farm belongs to the Ovotek company, which is part of the Woźniak Group. It is an egg tycoon, one of the largest egg producers in the European Union.
Last year, together with the Otwarte Klatki association, we revealed photos and recordings from another Woźniak Group farm in Greater Poland. The result was video report “Zdychy”. Oksana Osadczuk and Aleksandr Askirka, who worked at that farm, documented, among others: huge numbers of dead birds that sometimes remained in cages for weeks. The farm workers called them “dead”.
Just like after the publication of our report, the company now distances itself from accusations of irregularities in the statement signed by the “Ovotek team”. We read in it that “the allegations based on these recordings are baseless and manipulated.” The company claims, among other things, that “all animals on the farm are under constant veterinary care” and accuses activists of “acting to the detriment of the entire sector.”
The company also writes that allegations of cruel methods of loading animals are “untrue” and that birds “must be held by their legs” to maintain the safety of hens and employees. “This type of grip calms the hens and prevents them from feeling unnecessarily stressed,” the company claims. The entire statement is available on the website Ovotek.
Otwarte Klatki notified the prosecutor's office regarding the disclosed conditions at the farm. A notification was also submitted last year regarding the breeding conditions in Greater Poland described by us, but the prosecutor's office discontinued the case. Activists do not agree with the investigators' assessment and filed an appeal. Now they are waiting for the court to consider it.
– Our main allegations were that animals were kept in inappropriate living conditions, in poor sanitary conditions and in a state of untreated disease – reminds Angelika Kimbort, a legal advisor representing the organization. In an interview with Wirtualna Polska, he says that in this type of cases, “the problematic thing is that experts do not focus on the suffering of specific, individual animals, but look at the farm as a whole.” – If hens on such a farm consume feed in an amount that is within the norm and lay the expected number of eggs, it is assumed that their welfare is maintained. This approach completely ignores the suffering of individual animals that has been documented in the evidence. If the number of animals is counted in thousands, the suffering of a single animal is statistically insignificant and imperceptible – he estimates.
Although the prosecutor's office discontinued the investigation into the hen houses shown in the “Zdycha” report, the inspection by the District Veterinary Officer showed the breeder's negligence.The court also found irregularities regarding the manner of employment of Askirka and Osadczuk and ordered the payment of compensation.
A systemic problem with cage farming
The organization emphasizes that the disclosure of such conditions on another farm, in another region of Poland, shows that the problem concerns not individual places or people, but the way of breeding chickens themselves. He refers to the European Food Safety Authority, which in its 2023 expert opinion indicates that hens in cages do not have the opportunity to meet their most basic needs, such as feeding, sand bathing or exploring.
– Hens kept in cages cannot be provided with adequate welfare – it will always involve their suffering, and often a painful death – comments Julia Pająk from the Otwarte Klatki Association. – This time we are publishing recordings from the farm in Bobrzany, but such situations are the norm on cage farms – he adds.
Otwarte Klatki also refers to public opinion surveys, according to which the majority (66%) of Poles believe that cage breeding of laying hens should be banned.