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Chicks Thrown Away Alive: Animal Equality Presses Charges Against German Chicken Farm

Shocking Animal Equality investigation exposes reality on German broiler chicken farm. The footage was recorded in spring 2017 in the federal state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany.
May 3, 2017 Updated: April 24, 2025
Bird,Beak,Mammal,Chicken,farmed animal,Water bird

Hidden camera footage exposes shocking animal abuse in a broiler (chickens raised for meat) farm in northern Germany. Dead and injured chicks laying between others who are still alive. A worker pins a chick down with gripping pliers and steps onto the chick, presumably to kill him. Injured and weak animals are thrown into buckets and wheelbarrows – some of whom are still alive. In the buckets and wheelbarrows, the chicks are literally buried alive under piles of dead chicks who are thrown on top of them.

One particularly shocking scene shows a worker repeatedly hitting a chick with the end of a shovel, presumably injuring him heavily and throwing the chick into a waste container while still alive. Twelve hours later, the chick is found by our investigators…Animal Equality pressed charges against the farm. Those responsible must be held accountable and these gruesome practices must be stopped.

On this farm, 224,000 birds in 16 sheds are raised for their meat. None of these animals will ever see the light of day. Many of them are unable to even move. Nowadays, chickens are specifically bred to grow as much meat as possible in a very short amount of time. Their bodies cannot cope with the rapid and unnatural weight gain. Some chicks fall on their backs and are unable to get back up on their feet by themselves. A chick who can not get up anymore dies of thirst in agony – or is brutally “discarded” as the footage shows. If you want to help animals, take the pledge to try vegan.


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