« Organic Factory Farm Investigation
Fort Atkinson, Iowa (July 8, 2014 at 4:05 PM)
Overview of farm complex. Prior research indicated that one of these chicken houses held 14,000 birds with the other holding 16,000.
Building one: Blowing this shot up clearly shows all doors closed, no chickens out, evidence of mechanical harvesting/mowing — and two horses currently grazing. The last time we visited this facility, in 2010, there was one 2’ x 2’ door open and a few birds out (obviously violating the intent of the law).
Photo of same barn from 2010 with one 2’ x 2’ door open (total number of birds outside — one — visible). Note tall grass/weeds indicating no birds have been out in any significant numbers.
Building two: Blowing this shot up also clearly shows all doors closed, no chickens out— and two different horses grazing. The last time we visited this facility, in 2010, there was also one 2’ x 2’ door open and a few birds out (obviously violating the intent of the law).
Photo of same barn from 2010 with one 2’ x 2’ door open (total number of birds outside — less than a half dozen — visible).
Enlarging this shot clearly shows no outdoor access behind building number one. There is a very small fenced-in area (possibly using cattle panels) behind building number two, with an open gate, and no birds out. There is some kind of waterer or feed container that does not look like one that chickens can typically access. This would lead us to believe that some other species of livestock has been, in the past, confined to this area.
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Update:
The day the aerial photos were taken, July 8, 2014, there were perfect weather conditions for organic livestock to be outdoors—sunny with a high of 77° and no precipitation. There was about ¼ inch of rain recorded in the previous week.
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