This is anything but eggcellent.
A fire at one of the nation’s top egg producers broke out over the weekend, leaving an estimated 100,000 hens dead, the Department of Agriculture confirmed.
Hillandale Farms in Bozrah, Connecticut went up in flames on Saturday in an incident that is still under investigation.
A video posted to Twitter that’s been viewed more than 5.7 million times shows the facility engulfed in flames and horrifying clouds of smoke as firefighters try to diffuse the situation.
Largest egg producer’s plant burned down. pic.twitter.com/R1MbWvjVVX
— @amuse (@amuse) January 29, 2023
“Our team continues to work closely with the local fire departments and state officials to thoroughly investigate the fire that occurred on Saturday, January 28,” Hillandale Farms said in a statement. “We can confirm that one chicken house was lost and that no other buildings were compromised. We are deeply grateful that no employees were hurt in the fire.”
The coop that caught fire was approximately 50 feet by 600 feet, and the blaze required more than 100 firefighters from 16 area firefighting crews to put out.
“We are still family owned and operated and we still care about the safety and conditions of our birds,” the company states on its website. “They get only vegetarian feed, and we’ve developed many proprietary techniques and technologies to increase their safety and comfort.”
The Department of Agriculture also confirmed that the fire will have minimal to no impact on egg prices, something that’s been a major point of contention for consumers in the U.S. lately.
Earlier this month, data from the CPI showed that in three U.S. states (Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada) egg prices increased 64% in December 2022 while in three other states (Oregon, California and Washington) prices increased 18%.
Inflation and recent record-level outbreaks of the bird flu seem to be to blame.
Hillandale Farms, which is headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is one of the top five egg producers in the country, raising an estimated 20 million egg-laying chickens.