Modesto-based egg producer rejects abuse claim

An animal rights group Thursday released a video it says shows abused hens at a J.S. West & Cos. egg farm – a charge the Modesto-based company rejected.

Direct Action Everywhere claims that the hens at a farm near Atwater were more densely housed than allowed under a 2008 ballot measure, and that some of them were diseased.

J.S. West said the camera merely captured the natural tendency of hens to sleep close together, and some of the footage of sick birds might not be from its operation.

“Recently, a group of animal rights activists illegally broke into one of our henhouses in the middle of the night and videotaped our hens sleeping,” the company said in an emailed statement to The Modesto Bee. “Despite the fact that chickens sleep in a group, the activists are claiming that their video shows the birds to be in violation of Proposition 2. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

The statement said consumers can see how the hens are really treated in a video at www.nucalfoods.com, the website for a Ripon-based cooperative that distributes eggs.

J.S. West, founded in 1909, is one of the leading egg producers in California and also does business in feed, propane and almonds.

Direct Action Everywhere is a global network of activists that last year released a video claiming abuses at Diestel Turkey Ranch near Sonora. That company responded that the footage might not have been shot on its property and that the dying birds it depicted are a normal part of livestock raising.

The group said its J.S. West investigation found “grotesque lesions” and other health problems with the hens, along with spacing much tighter than what Proposition 2 required as of 2015.

“In virtually all of the cages, a hen would not be able to walk, turn around or spread her wings," said Dr. Sherstin Rosenberg, a veterinarian working with the group, in a news release. “The hens living in this facility are systematically subjected to needless suffering.”

The ballot measure, approved by 63 percent of California voters, targeted industry-standard cages that provided an average of 67 square inches of floor space per hen. The language did not include specific dimensions, but it did say that the birds should be able to stand, turn and engage in behaviors such as dust-bathing, where they clean themselves.

Some backers said Proposition 2 meant cage-free production in large barns and outdoor enclosures, but the industry disagreed. J.S. West was the first to start converting its barns, with cages that provide an average of 116 square inches per hen as well as spots for perching, nesting and other activity.

“For these reasons, J.S. West’s hen housing system was the first hen housing system in the world to be certified by the American Humane Association,” the statement said.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Modesto-based egg producer rejects abuse claim."