UPDATE: Mismanaged poultry farm goes under the hammer
Even SPCA inspectors - hardened by their job - were sickened by the sight and stench when they visited the farm.
UPDATE: April 5 2017
DEAD chicken carcasses, chickens with no feathers and poor breeding conditions are what greeted SPCA inspectors and health officials inside a poultry farm in Southport last April.
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The 9.2-hectare Highridge farm was up for auction last Wednesday by Ian Wyles auctioneers and appraisers.
The farm comprises an egg laying operation, four laying houses, packing sheds with egg grader, ancillary buildings, 6.5-hectares banana plantation, a large residence and labour compound.
According to auctioneers, the property has received lots of interest but no buyer has yet been finalised. It is believed that the closing date for purchase of the property is next Tuesday, April 11.
The farm orginally housed about 14 000 birds.
ORIGINAL STORY: April 14 2016
SPCA and health officials are calling for an R11-million ‘land reform’ Southport chicken farm to be closed down due to cruelty to its 14 000-strong brood.
Criminal charges have also been laid.
This after the SPCA was tipped off last Thursday by the Herald (who received an anonymous call) about shocking conditions at the Wandering Star Farm.
Officials visited the farm the following day and found hundreds of rotting carcasses and many more chickens starving, featherless and close to death.
Even inspectors – hardened by their job – were sickened by the sight and stench.
The farm is a Department of Rural Development and Land Reform project that has been operating for the past six years.
Wandering Star Farm was bought as a going concern by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform for R10.9 million and run as a ‘joint operation’ from December 2010.
SPCA inspectors had to wade through the faeces to get to the birds crowded into coops. They found a total of 245 dead birds on Friday. Inspector Julia Watson said scores more had died daily after that and the tally had increased to 472 by Tuesday.
On Monday, veterinarian Dr Hugo Voigts was called to inspect the chickens to see if they should be euthanased.
Suddenly, all the chickens had been provided with food and water.
However, Dr Voigts, Mrs Watson and senior environmental health practitioner Suren Ramlal, from the Ugu Health Department, could not find a single bird that was not emaciated.
Many of them were too weak to stand to get to the food or water. Others had grown stronger since Friday, said Dr Voigts.
Ugu Health Department also said the farm posed a serious health risk.
“The regulatory view is that the farm has not been managed in a sustainable manner and there appears to have been total neglect of the poultry,” said Sphelele Cele, spokesman for Ugu District Municipality.
The department served notice on the owner to address the following matters.
* The conveyor belts to be kept operational in order to remove all chicken litter from the sheds, as the current ammonia levels are quite prolific in the cages;
* All chicken litter to be removed from the ground and cages to prevent undue nuisances that may be created from fly breeding;
* All dead birds are to be removed timeously and buried to the satisfaction of the health department;
* In view of the current infestation of rodents and bird lice, the owner has to engage a professional pest controller to address these problems and show proof thereof;
* The owner to cease the sale and supply of eggs to the public until such time as conditions have improved on the farm.
“The farm will be monitored to ensure compliance from a health point and failure to do so by the owner will result in further action being instituted,” said Ms Cele.
Mlungisi Mkhungo, one of the directors at the farm, said he had taken over the operations in 2010. He started experiencing ‘cash flow challenges’ in September the following year.
“We received help from the department, but the continuous operational expenses got the better of us during these hard times. We had a challenge with chicken feed and I apologise to all for what has occurred at the farm,” said Mr Mkhungo.
He thanked Sunrise Farms in Southport for supplying them with two tons of feed.
“Sunrise Farm has also helped with a generator to run the conveyor belts at the pens. I would also like to thank everyone else for their support during this crisis. The situation has improved from last week,” said Mr Mkhungo.
Meanwhile, the SPCA and health department officials are to conduct daily inspections.
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