AN INVESTIGATION has been launched following claims made by an animal welfare charity over 'horrific' conditions at a Dorset poultry farm.

Animal rights protection group, Animal Equality, undertook an investigation into animal welfare at Walston Poultry Farm near Blandford.

The poultry farm supplies 139 million eggs every year to Noble Foods, owner of the Happy Eggs brand which are sold in Tesco, Asda and Morrisons.

The group's findings, revealed through filming and pictures, following four visits to the farm between January and early March allegedly found "clear violations of animal welfare standards".

The photos and film footage claimed that they found dead birds left in cages.

Meanwhile, many live birds were found to have visible wounds after being pecked by cage mates while others suffered from severe feather loss with some nearly bald - with red, raw skin.

Bosses at the charity also claim that the caged hens were only checked on once in four days by farm staff while during one visit, an activist found tubs holding dozens of dead birds left in the sheds overnight.

Dr Toni Shephard, UK director of Animal Equality, said: “The pitiless practice of locking hens inside crowded cages inevitably leads to the frail, featherless birds and high mortality that we found on this farm.

"But the failure to even check on these poor, helpless hens once a day – as the law requires – shows complete disregard for them as living, feeling animals with fundamental needs.

"It is time for Noble to go cage-free across all of their brands."

The findings were sent to Dorset Trading Standards which is charged with investigating on-farm welfare, as well as to the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC), which regulates the sale of British eggs.

When contacted by the Dorset Echo for a comment, a Dorset County Council Trading Standards spokesman said: “Trading Standards take all complaints and allegations concerning the welfare of farmed animals very seriously and they are addressed as a priority. This is no exception.

“Our enquiries are ongoing and if any action is required, it will be taken appropriately.

“We continue to work with the government’s Animal & Plant Health Agency on this”.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency said they were aware of the report and added: “We don’t comment on individual cases.

"APHA takes potential breaches of animal welfare legislation very seriously.

"Where welfare regulations are breached, appropriate action is taken.”

The BEIC said that they immediately sent independent auditors to the site to investigate what appeared to be breaches of the Lion Code of Practice.

A statement added: "Following receipt of the auditor’s report, the BEIC has suspended two of the houses from the Lion scheme, pending the retraining of stockmen responsible for those birds."

In response to the findings, Noble Foods which has a long-standing relationship with the farm said it had immediately launched an internal investigation following the report by Animal Equality.

When contacted by the Dorset Echo for a response, Walston Poultry Farm refused to comment.