I thought that this, though an unfortunate situation for the business and chickens, might be an interesting opportunity for anyone in the area who might be having trouble making ends meet (arent we all these days?).

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DADE CITY, Fla. -- About 20,000 chickens starved to death and another 180,000 will be euthanized in Central Florida after a bankrupt poultry farm stopped feeding them. The chickens at Cypress Foods north of Dade City went without food for about 10 days before state agricultural officials stepped in this week.

The birds were provided water.

The chickens were knocked off their egg production cycle, so survivors will likely be euthanized, said Florida's State Veterinarian Leroy Coffman.

"They are spent hens. They spent their productive laying life,'' Coffman said. "The best solution for these birds is to euthanize.''

The 82-acre facility had about 225,000 chickens producing about 200,000 eggs a day during its last state inspection.

Cypress Foods' larger facilities in Georgia with about 1.5 million chickens also stopped feeding, Coffman said.

Cypress Foods, once one of the nation's largest egg-producing companies, filed for bankruptcy in January.

The bankruptcy court appointed Andrea Bauman of Polk County as trustee for the chicken's welfare.

"I don't know why (the chickens) weren't fed. All those things took place prior to us getting involved,'' said her lawyer, Chad Bowen. "We have made arrangements to get the chickens fed.''

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is investigating possible criminal charges.

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Id be tempted to contact Ms Andrea Bauman of Polk County and see if I couldnt buy 100 live for a nickel a piece or something and chuck them in the freezer as stewers. I hate to see anything go to waste.

-- William in WI (gnarledmaw@lycos.com), March 07, 2002

Answers

I completely agree. There are too many hungry people in the world to waste food. WAIT!!! i just sounded like my mom.......ughhh .

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 08, 2002.

Not sure I'd want to eat these particular chickens. No doubt they are full of antibiotics, etc.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), March 09, 2002.

Actually, Elizabeth, these poor chickens are layers--they are full of HORMONES-- the ones that are full of antibiotics are broilers-- the kind the stores sell you to eat.

Great to see you posting again, William.

-- Rags (nobody@nowhere.org), March 09, 2002.