Activists from the Animal Justice Project (AJP) entered several farms that supply primary supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda and Marks.
The organization claimed to have discovered endangered and unhealthy birds on all farms visited, scenes of dilapidated and neglected facilities, and “many dead chickens” strewn around the sheds.
Producers named through the crusade organization included Glenrath Farms, The Happy Egg Co, and Home Farm (one of Bumble Hole Foods).
Sean Barrs, campaign director at the Animal Justice Project, said: “Britain’s trendy egg industry is revealing a heartbreaking truth: sick, dying and hanging laying hens, crammed into thousands in huge factory-style sheds designed for maximum production.
“Our survey sheds light on the myths of ‘high well-being. ‘We hope this will help consumers look beyond the glossy packaging of eggs to include more ethical and plant-based foods in their diets.
Ian Campbell, managing director of Glenrath Farms, said Food Manufacture had already contacted police to report the break-in on their farm and that independent auditors from the RSPCA, BEIC and the National Farmers’ Union had already visited the farm in response to requests from the AJP’s complaints: No sign of poor standards.
“If you need to critique the way we work, you need to know what you’re talking about,” Campbell said.
A spokesperson for The Happy Egg Co said the care and welfare of its hens is the most sensible priority and that its farm team runs a “rigorous” programme of normal farm visits and random third-party checks to check that welfare criteria are met.
“As soon as we saw those photographs showing one of our farms, we immediately initiated an examination,” the spokesperson added. “Our team assessed the farm, and since then the RSPCA and BEIC have carried out independent and unannounced assessments, that the farm has been found to be fully compliant with industry regulations and most productive practices.
“The RSPCA had already visited the farm two weeks earlier and found no reason to be concerned about those two visits. “
Bumble Hole Foods said previous audits of egg supplier Home Farm had raised significant concerns, but AJP’s photographs had prompted the company to take action.
“Therefore, we have to temporarily suspend the procurement of eggs from Home Farm for M products.
“Our plan includes conducting a new comprehensive audit of the farm, either internally or through the BEIC Lion certification process. The resumption of our relationship with Home Farm will depend on your ability to demonstrate your compliance with our key welfare criteria.
Meanwhile, UK consumers have been calling for an end to the slaughter of male chicks in the egg processing industry and for more clearly labelling if the eggs come from a manufacturer’s culling.
In a survey of 2,000 Britons conducted through the food tech company In Ovo, two-thirds of respondents want legislation to end the slaughter of male chicks on the day of hatching, while more than three-quarters of those boxes obviously deserve to be labelled to show whether or not the eggs come from a chick slaughter process.