Say NO to Another Chicken Mega Factory Farm

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Thank you to everyone who sent in an objection submission.

NSW doesn't need another mega factory farm.

Baiada is the biggest privately owned chicken company in Australia, currently producing around 5 million birds every week. Despite these astronomical numbers, the company has lodged a State Significant Development Application (DA)  to expand its operations in Grenfell, in the Weddin NSW Local Government Area. If the proposed Baiada breeding and rearing facility is approved, this intensive operation will confine 570,000 chickens in 40 massive sheds across four huge new farms. It will operate 24/7 to produce and supply fertile eggs and broiler (meat) chickens to other intensive factory farms across NSW.

The four farms include one rearing farm, two breeder farms, and one mixed-purpose farm. The rearing farm will grow day-old chicks to maturity and transfer them to one of the breeder farms. In the breeder farms, 10% of the birds will be male and 90% will be female. When egg production begins to fall when the birds are around five months old, they will be killed.

Though the lives of breeding birds are longer than their offspring who are sent to factory farms, the planning proposal, if approved, will condemn millions of birds to an inevitable death at a fraction of their natural lifetimes.

Baiada is a vertically integrated company: it owns almost all aspects of production, from feed mills to breeding farms, hatcheries, and slaughterhouses. The company has been synonymous with animal cruelty, misleading "free-range" claims when chickens remain in cramped conditions, and wage fraud.

Baiada has a publicly exposed history involving egregious animal cruelty and public deception - any previous pubic trust and confidence in its operations and animal welfare claims is now greatly diminished.

• In 2012 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched proceedings in the Federal Court against Baiada Poultry and Bartter Enterprises. The ACCC alleged Baiada Poultry and Bartter Enterprises made false or misleading claims in advertising and product packaging for Steggles about how their chickens were housed and just how much space they had.

• In 2019, an eyewitness account and video from Baiada's breeding facility and abattoir depicted widespread abhorrent animal suffering and stress from overcrowded conditions, sick and injured birds and ineffective stunning practices prior to slaughter. Worse still, some workers were seen to inflict violent animal cruelty against live chickens including punching them in the head and bashing them against metal railings and one worker was witnessed repeatedly tearing birds’ heads off.

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Submissions closed at 11:59pm 1st February 2022.