ATLANTA - Up to one million starving chickens in Georgia and Florida may have to be killed after their bankrupt owner quit feeding them. <br>
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Agriculture officials say Cypress Foods Incorporated of Winter Haven, Florida, left farmers in southeast Georgia and central Florida without feed for about 1.4 million egg-laying hens. <br>
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About 1.2 million of the hens were on nine farms in southeast Georgia near Blackshear. Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin estimated that two-thirds of those birds -- almost 800,000 -- may be unsalvageable because they are so emaciated and diseased. <br>
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Calls to the Cypress Foods corporate office today were not answered. <br>
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Irvin says the state was notified of the starving birds late last week, and about 300,000-500,000 already have been sold to other active poultry companies. <br>
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He says the rest likely will end up at a rendering plant to be disposed of. <br>
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Georgia has about 11.5 million egg-laying hens and is among the country's top six or seven egg-producing states. <br>
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At a Cypress Foods farm north of Dade City, Florida, prison inmates worked for a second day to clear an estimated 20,000 dead chickens from the open warehouse-type buildings that housed 200,000 laying hens. <br>
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Florida officials say if any of the birds still alive were in good enough condition they would be placed somewhere.
