Acting on an anonymous tip, authorities discovered nearly 50,000 abandoned chickens at an egg farm just south of Modesto, Calif. The hens hadn’t been fed for two weeks, the Modesto Bee reported, and nearly all were so sick they had to be euthanized. 
 
 The birds’ carcasses were sent to a landfill; about 2,000 surviving hens were sent to sanctuaries where they are being treated and will be adopted out as companions. 
 
 A&L Poultry, the owner of the abandoned egg farm, issued an apology by way of Fox40, saying the company was shutting down its egg production. 
 
 The company stated the chickens were abandoned by accident: “An attempt to arrange for delivery of the chickens to a third party in order to avoid the usual business practice of euthanizing the chickens resulted in an unacceptable situation A&L Poultry did not intend, and profoundly regrets.” 
 
 Annette Patton, the executive director of Stanislaus Animal Services Agency, told the Modesto Bee that she will ask the Stanislaus County district attorney’s office next week to prosecute the owner of A&L Poultry, Andy Keung Cheung. 
 
 A&L Poultry produced between 12.5 million and 15 million eggs a year, which, although a large number, represents a fraction of the egg production industry in that county, the Modesto Bee reported. 
 
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 About a third of the estimated 50,000 hens at A&L; Poultry, west of Turlock, died after about two weeks without feed, and most of the rest are being euthanized because of their weak condition, officials said Wednesday. 
 
 Also Thursday, an official said she will seek prosecution of farm owner Andy Keung Cheung on charges of animal cruelty and neglect. 
 
 Animal rescue groups Thursday started taking in a small portion of the hens alleged to have been left without feed at a Carpenter Road egg farm. 
 
 A veterinarian cleared about 2,000 hens to be taken to rescue centers that work with the Stanislaus Animal Services Agency, executive director Annette Patton said. 
 
 "If we can save a few chickens, that's a good thing," she said. "That's always our first choice." 
 
 Close to 500 hens were loaded up with rescuers Thursday, and the rest of the survivors were expected to leave today, she said. 
 
 The cleanup, which includes trucking the carcasses to a landfill, could finish today, Patton said. 
 
 She said she expects next week to ask the Stanislaus County district attorney's office to prosecute Cheung, who has declined to comment. 
 
 Farm Sanctuary, a group based in New York state, planned to take some of the surviving hens to its property in Glenn County, spokeswoman Meredith Turner said. 
 
 The group also asked for criminal charges in a letter to the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. 
 
 "The responsible party or parties subjected each bird to unnecessary and unjustifiable physical pain, suffering, and death," wrote Bruce Friedrich, senior director for strategic initiatives. "It has been our experience over our 25 years of providing sanctuary for chickens who have been rescued from factory farms and slaughterhouses that they are deeply intelligent and inquisitive animals." 
 
 The cleanup has involved county and state agencies and egg industry leaders, who are eager to point out that hen abuse is rare. A&L; appears to be a tiny part of the industry, which produced about 386 million eggs in Stanislaus County in 2010, according to its agricultural commissioner. 
 
 A typical hen lays 250 to 300 eggs in a year, according to United Egg Producers, a national industry group. That would mean about 12.5 million to 15 million eggs per year from the estimated population at A&L; Poultry. 
 
 Officials Thursday said they did not know where the company sold its eggs. Those from the county's large producers are marketed under several labels. 
 
 Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at jholland@modbee.com or (209) 578-2385. 
 
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– An animal rights group is seeking criminal charges after officials discovered nearly 50,000 dying chickens abandoned on an egg farm near Modesto, Calif., MSNBC reports via the Modesto Bee. Most of the birds were euthanized due to illness, but about 2,000 are being treated at sanctuaries and will be available for adoption. A&L Poultry, which owned the abandoned egg farm, apologized for leaving the hens behind. “An attempt to arrange for delivery of the chickens to a third party in order to avoid the usual business practice of euthanizing the chickens" led to the problem, A&L said in a statement. Farm Sanctuary, a New York-based group that took in some of the birds, says it will seek criminal charges against farm owner Andy Keung Cheung for animal cruelty and neglect. "The responsible party or parties subjected each bird to unnecessary and unjustifiable physical pain, suffering, and death," the group wrote in a letter to a sheriff's office.