Nottinghamshire farming company fined for dumping 10,000 chickens in this trench

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The trench where a Notts farming company disposed of 10,000 dead chickens

A farming company based in Newark has been fined £2,000 for dumping around 10,000 chicken carcasses in a woodland trench.

Germany Farms Ltd, of Lodge Farm in Norwell, Newark, pleaded guilty to offences against the Animal By Productions Regulations 2011 at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court this week.

The court was told the company buried broiler chickens on September 13 last year on woodland near Knapthorpe, against regulations on the processing, use and disposal of animal by products to prevent the risk of the spread of disease.

Broiler chickens are bred specifically for meat production.

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Trading Standards team and the Environment Agency went to the burial site on September 26 2016 and exhumed and disposed of the carcasses.

Trading Standards manager Nicola Schofield said: “This company has been producing poultry for 25 years so should have been fully aware of the requirements to dispose of dead livestock.

“They failed to take steps to address the issue before they were instructed to do so by the County Council.

“The scale of dead carcasses could have led to a massive risk to public health and wildlife so it is important the company receives a fine as punishment for their actions.”

Animal by products cannot be buried on land unless it is an authorised site and the material has been pressure sterilised.

There is also a requirement for the disposer to hold documentation for the transport of such by products, which the company failed to have.

Notts TV has contacted Germany Farms Ltd for comment.

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