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Egg Farm In Colorado Had Problems In The Past

DENVER (CBS4) - CBS4 has obtained inspection reports that show an egg producing facility in Colorado has had troubles in the past.

Target and McDonalds have dropped Sparboe Farms as their egg supplier. The company has a facility in Hudson.

An undercover operation involving hidden cameras took place in three states, including Colorado. They show dead hens rotting where others are still producing eggs, beaks burned off without pain killers, and chicks tossed aside.

A member of a group called Mercy for Animals took the video.

"All of us at Sparboe Farms were shocked and deeply disturbed when we saw the video shot in our barns depicting animal mistreatment," company president Beth Sparboe said.

"Were these activities the work of a few renegade employees or company policy? We believe that the worst abuse which is the way in which these animals are intensively confined and denied their most basic behaviors. These are system wide policy level abuses," Nathan Runkle with Mercy for Animals said.

The company says those responsible for the misconduct have been fired, including a production manager in Iowa.

CBS4 found Food and Drug Administration records for the Sparboe's Hudson facility. A May inspection found equipment not cleaned and disinfected. It noted the farm failed to address cross contamination from equipment movement which could encourage salmonella. Sparboe calls them minor issues.

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