Steve's Fresh Farm Eggs (closed)

Steve's Farm Fresh Eggs is no longer operating. The shed which housed the cages and free range sections is still up, but everything inside has been removed, so it is just an empty shed and it not sealed at either end making it no use for housing animals.

The shop was still operating until more recently. However now the property is for sale and it is not being sold as a farm: https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-rossmore-134888074

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Steve's Fresh Farm Eggs was exposed in November 2013 by Animal Liberation NSW. Activists discovered the following conditions:

• Build up of excrement at the back of the sheds approximately 1 meter in depth which seeps into water catchment area
• In almost every cage nearest the front of the sheds were 7 birds crammed into each cage, laying and stepping on each other, totally unable to move with even a skerrick of room. Not in any way in accordance with regulations stipulating all laying hens must have 550 square centimetres
• Birds found with appalling infections including comb being four times normal size
• Birds with deformed toes, curling under and in, unable to stand
• The gradation of cages toward the back of the sheds provides no reasonable support for the bird's toes. Birds were witnessed unable to secure footing at all
• High number of corpses in the "free range" area - what appeared to be slabs of rat poison. Noted and filmed rat under chicken corpse. Some corpses were relatively new and others had obviously died many weeks ago. One corpse had been eaten by possibly a fox. There is no protection from predation for "free range" chickens
• Trough at back of shed with hundreds of smashed eggs left to rot
• The high levels of ammonia were causing a high amount of chickens coughing indicating respiratory infections
• Openings of cages toward the back, just prior to the "free range" area were approximately 16.51cms or 6 and half inches ensuring depopulation of cages will cause extreme distress and pain
• The free range area is totally enclosed, no enrichment material, water trough so filthy and long standing there were insect larvae moving around the sludge
• Photographs available of cartons marked "free range eggs" and "caged eggs" - the amount of "free range" birds able to lay would fill no more than a single carton a week - and even then the claim of "free range" is fallacious