An early morning fire at a Hillandale Farms chicken coop in Connecticut left thousands of chickens dead, according to officials.
The Colchester Fire Department reported that the fire broke out in a 50-foot by 600-foot operating chicken coop at Hillandale Farms on Sunday. Crews from 16 surrounding departments and over 100 firefighters responded to the fire, and no injuries were reported.
While local reporting cited The Salvation Army as saying roughly 100,000 chickens were killed, John Way, a safety officer for the Bozrah Volunteer Fire Co., said he could not confirm this. Hillandale Farms is one of the largest egg producers in the country, raising over 20 million chickens for eggs. They are family-owned and operated and take steps to ensure the safety and comfort of their birds, providing them with vegetarian feed and other proprietary techniques.
A spokesperson for Forsman Farms said, “Overnight, a fire destroyed one of our barns at our Howard Lake farm. No one was injured and we are grateful that first responders were quickly on scene to put out the fire.”
The cause of the fire is not yet known, and an investigation is underway. In a statement, Hillandale Farms said, “Unfortunately, chickens were lost because of the fire. We are evaluating the extent of the damage – which appears to be confined to a single structure – as well as investigating the cause of the fire.”
The fire is the latest of a string of similar incidents in the farming industry, including a May 2022 fire at a commercial egg farm in Minnesota, which likely left thousands of chickens dead.
January 28th: More than 100 firefighters battled a huge fire at a commercial egg farm (Hillandale Farm, Bozrah, Connecticut, USA).
Hillandale Farms is one of the top egg producers in the US, raising over 20 million chickens for eggs. pic.twitter.com/rucYbrqsIK
— James Melville (@JamesMelville) January 30, 2023
