Eggs Exposed

From fluffy newborn chicks ground alive on their first day of life, to 18 month old hens brutally killed at the slaughterhouse, the reality of the Australian egg industry is far from the image of happy, healthy chickens who grace the packaging we see stacked on shelves in the supermarkets.

Free-Range and Cage-Free Eggs (2025)

In 2025, Farm Transparency Project published an investigation into seven Victorian egg farms offering free-range and cage-free eggs. From small, local producers to major supermarket suppliers, they found the same suffering and misery in each shed they visited. The farms investigated included some of the biggest suppliers of free range eggs in the country, including Josh's Rainbow Eggs, Valley Park Farms and Farm Pride, a major supplier of Coles Brand Free Range.

This investigation also uncovered a year-long deception by Josh's Rainbow Eggs, forcing the company to admit that they had been sending their ex-layer hens to slaughter, rather than rehoming them as they claimed.

'Spent' Hen slaughter (2024)

At E.T Chicken Processing hundreds of chickens are killed each week in a run-down slaughterhouse surrounded by disused chicken sheds. In November 2024, a team of investigators installed hidden cameras to document this slaughter.

The slaughterhouse kills both 5-7 week old broiler chickens, bred for meat, and 18 month old layer hens, whose egg production has begun to slow.

The footage shows crates of already dead chickens being thrown into the bin, and birds being roughly handled by workers. Chickens will frantically flap while being sent into the kill room, with many managing to escape before being recaptured by workers. Some chickens were shown to remain conscious after stunning, meaning that they are still conscious when their throats are slit.

Just like all animals, these chickens fight for their lives. They do not want to die.

Hens Burnt Alive (2021)

On the night of November 9, 2021, Farm Transparency Project received a tipoff about a shed that had caught fire at an intensive egg farm in Carisbrook, Victoria, earlier that day. The farm, owned by Kinross, produces "cage-free", "barn-laid" eggs in an "aviary" system, with up to 45,000 hens in each shed.

The eggs from this facility are marketed as "cage-free", but the reality is that each aisle of this massive shed functions as one large cage. These birds were trapped with nowhere to go.

Our investigators were equipped to rescue any survivors they might have come across, but there were none. Every single one of the hens here, around 45,000, were horrifically burned alive. Their sheer terror and pain as the fire ripped through the shed is unimaginable.

Initially, the owner claimed there were 24,000 hens killed in the fire. He later admitted there were 45,312.

Chick Maceration (2016)

All egg systems are faced with a universal 'problem' when it comes to the hatching of chicks raised for egg laying. Since only female chickens lay eggs, male chicks who have no commercial value to the egg industry are routinely gassed or 'macerated' (ground up alive). As a result, every year some 12 million male chicks are killed in the first day of their lives as waste products of the Australian egg industry.

In June 2016, Aussie Farms founder Chris Delforce hid inside the maceration room overnight at the country's largest hatchery for the egg-laying industry, capturing with a handheld camera the shredding of newborn male chicks. The following month, this Australian-first footage was released publicly in collaboration with Animal Liberation NSW. Shortly afterwards, in an action organised by Aussie Farms, around 100 activists from across the country converged on the facility in Huntly, Victoria, with 21 entering the hatchery by surprise and halting operations for two hours in an effort to draw further public attention to the inherent cruelty of the egg industry. Over 150 male chicks - some just seconds from being killed - were rescued and are now living out their lives, happily and healthily, with experienced carers.

Battery Cages (2014)

Hens in battery cages, barn-laid systems, and many free range systems spend their lives in artificially lit surroundings designed to maximise laying activity, with insufficient room to act on natural instincts like preening, nesting, foraging and dust bathing.

Exposed by Aussie Farms in May 2014, Henholme is a large battery hen (caged egg) facility near Newcastle NSW. In approximately half of the sheds, the cages reach 8 tiers high. The majority of birds were found with major feather loss and clear signs of malnutrition.

View all 118 videos for this campaign in the video gallery

• Major free-range egg producer acknowledges 18-month long deception

  Media release: Monday 8 Dec 2025

  Major free-range egg producer, Josh's Rainbow Eggs has publicly acknowledged that they have been misleading consumers with claims that they rehome all their ex-layer hens.  A photo of a dead hen at Josh's Rainbow Eggs. Image: Farm Transparency Project (2025) Following an investigation by animal protection group Farm Transparency Project (FTP), which included testimony from ex-workers and footage of dead and sick hens taken inside the sheds at Josh's Rainbow Egg's Monegeetta farm, the business made changes to their website to remove multiple instances of the word 'ethical' and to add a statement saying that, since May 2024 they have been...
• Ex-workers allege animal cruelty and worker mistreatment at Josh's Rainbow Eggs

  Media release: Wednesday 3 Dec 2025

  Farm Transparency Project has published allegations of starvation, mistreatment and forced moulting from ex-workers at major free-range egg producer, Josh's Rainbow Eggs. Two ex-workers claim that the farm made them clean machinery with toothbrushes and treated workers as 'expendable.' Workers also claim that the farm uses starvation to force moulting in egg-laying hens. Photos of dead hens at Josh's Rainbow Eggs. Photo: provided by ex-worker. Animal advocacy group Farm Transparency Project (FTP) has published two statements from ex-workers at so-called 'ethical egg' producer Josh's Rainbow Eggs, which is sold in major supermarkets around Victoria. The ex-workers claims that...
• Death, overcrowding and cannibalism at major free-range egg producers

  Media release: Tuesday 2 Dec 2025

  Animal protection organisation releases new footage showing widespread mistreatment of chickens on free-range and cage-free egg farms in Victoria. The footage, captured at five free-range and two barn-laid egg farms, shows sick, injured and dead hens, including ones that have been left to rot in sheds. The footage was captured by anonymous investigators earlier in the year. New footage published by Farm Transparency Project (FTP) shows chickens living in filth amongst dead and dying hens, across seven free-range and barn-laid egg farms in Victoria, including suppliers to major supermarkets. Footage from the farms shows overcrowded sheds, chickens with serious wounds,...

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