A free-range egg firm was shut down after it was found littered with dead hens which had been left in horrendous living conditions with no food or water.
Peter Armitage, who was the former owner and director of Caithness Free Range Eggs Ltd, has been jailed for causing suffering to 2,000 hens in his care. The 41-year-old was found guilty of a string of sickening animal and hygiene welfare offences, which took place at Lochquoy Farm in Durran, by Castletown, between September 2016 and September 2017.
Wick Sheriff Court today heard how thousands of hens were left to die in the hands of Armitage, who neglected them and left the animals without food and water. Their corpses were later found hanging out the mouths of pigs during an unannounced inspection by Highland Council.
The grim conditions were brought to the attention of the local authority following an anonymous email in July 2017, which 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".
During several inspections carried out by the council's animal welfare team, the carcasses of decomposing birds and rats were found littered across the estate. Parts of the dead bodies were found hanging from pigs' mouths as they were left to roam freely around the outbuildings and chicken houses.
A farm worker said they suspected that the animals had been dead for ‘about a month and a half.’ The pigs living in the estate were also found to be consuming eggshells.
The feeding conditions are thought to have affected around 6000 hens, with Armitage failing to take reasonable measures to ensure they were met with a suitable diet and protected from suffering, injury and disease. Egg collection areas were also found to be littered in bird faeces, chicken carcasses and rat droppings.
Armitage pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the adult hens by failing to provide them with sufficient food and water and allowing pigs to access hens, which resulted in them being attacked, killed and eaten. He also admitted failing to keep the premises clean and maintained in good repair and condition, failing to ensure that adequate procedures were not in place to control pests, fed pigs with eggs and eggshells and allowed pigs and chickens to access and consume broken eggs.
At the time, inspectors handed the company boss a prevention notice to stop feeding the pigs raw eggs as he was ordered to prevent them from accessing the hen houses. His business was later closed and ordered to cease trading after Environmental Health issued Armitage with a Remedial Action Notice.
During the trial, his 24-year-old former employee, Kyle Mackay, was given a Community Payback Order - requiring him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work. Mackay, who was only 17 at the time of the offences, was employed as the farm manager and was in charge when Armitage was not working.
Mackay pled guilty to a further charge of failing to provide sufficient food and water to a calf which died.
Speaking 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.
“Peter Armitage and Kyle Mackay’s convictions were down to the collaborative multi-agency working involved in investigating and gathering evidence of these offences. I would like to thank Highland Council, the Animal & Plant Health Agency, and the Scottish Government Poultry Unit for the part they played in getting this outcome.
“We expect the highest standards of our food producers and are committed to working with enforcing authorities to ensure that those who do not meet these standards are held to account.”
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