Alarm failure contributed to 179,000 chicken deaths at West Auckland broiler farm

A lengthy investigation into the deaths of almost 180,000 chickens after a power cut at a West Auckland broiler farm has found an alarm failure, at no fault of the farm manager, contributed to their deaths.

It's also the reason why no charges have been laid.

The chickens died from hypothermia after an electricity outage in the middle of the night at DB Chicks in Helensville in November 2019.

But the farm manager was unaware of the loss of power because an alarm installed years prior – for this very incident - did not properly activate, the Herald can reveal.

The chicken casualties, which were described as "the biggest mass death" in New Zealand history by one animal law expert, prompted a Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation which took more than 14 months to complete.

But after taking advice from the Crown Solicitor, MPI did not pursue prosecution – a move that shocked animal rights advocates.

After obtaining the investigation summary under the Official Information Act, the Herald can reveal the reasons behind that decision.