State to help dispose of abandoned hens

State and county agencies are helping to dispose of an estimated 50,000 hens in Stanislaus County that had been left to starve to death.

Animal Services responded to a complaint Tuesday and found an egg farm west of Turlock where a third of the hens had died of starvation. The rest are being euthanized because they're so thin.

They believe the hens had been without food for two weeks. The owner may have abandoned the farm because of the high cost of feed.

He could face animal neglect charges.