After animal rights activists protested in front of Hillandale Egg Farm in Lebanon Friday morning, saying they want for protections for the thousands of chickens that survived a fire on Tuesday night, the Department of Agriculture confirmed the remaining chickens are healthy and safe.
"An inspection by the Dept. of Agriculture Friday...found that all remaining chickens appear healthy and that eggs from the plant are safe to eat," the department said.
Roughly 80,000 chickens were killed on Tuesday night when a fire destroyed one of 13 chicken coops on the property.
The department said the follow-up inspection performed on Friday found that there were "no adverse effects on the other approximately 1.5 million chicken."
Water, electricity and feeding systems were all restored on early Wednesday and has returned to normal production levels, the department said.
Protesters stood at the entrance, holding signs and wearing bio-hazardous suits, and said they want to make sure the birds do not have smoke inhalation and need medical attention from a veterinarian.
“If these were dogs, 80,000 dogs killed in a fire, there would be an outrage across the country. So we are confident that the farm does not value the birds’ lives enough to carefully go through the wreckage and ensure they are OK,” said Zachary Groff, of Direct Action Everywhere, said earlier on Friday.
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Hillandale Farms Inc. said in a statement:
"It's heartbreaking for any farmer to experience this kind of loss and we're so thankful our employees were unharmed. Our attention and efforts are fully focused on the health of our hens."
The fire marshal said an overheated conveyor belt likely caused the fire.
