The National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) urgently intervened on Friday, 25 April and Saturday, 26 April 2025, at poultry farming operations operated by Daybreak Foods near Delmas, Mpumalanga, following reports of severe animal suffering. Thousands of chickens were found without access to feed, and some had resorted to cannibalism in a desperate attempt to survive.
This is not an isolated incident. In February 2025, the NSPCA reported similar findings at other Daybreak Foods facilities in the same region, raising serious concerns about systemic and ongoing neglect.
The situation appears to stem from severe financial instability within Daybreak Foods, reportedly linked to funding constraints. As a result, the company has allegedly been unable to secure sufficient feed for its chickens. After an instruction from the Veterinary Public Health (VPH) office, the most recent crisis emerged after the company’s abattoir were prohibited from slaughtering hundreds of thousands of birds that had reached slaughter age but not slaughter weight, leaving the company with overcrowded poultry houses, no market for the birds, and no resources to feed them. The average weight for chickens of this age should be around 1.8 kilograms, whereas these birds weighed, on average, only 660 grams.
NSPCA Inspectors were confronted with horrifying scenes: chickens running frantically with visible injuries, including protruding intestines, while others pursued and fed on the open wounds of their pen-mates. In some cases, cannibalism had progressed to the point where birds’ wings were entirely consumed.
More than 5,500 chickens had to be humanely euthanised by the NSPCA due to the extent of their injuries and suffering. For the last five days, two sites have seen mortality rates in excess of 25,000 birds across two sites only, while the NSPCA remains on-site to monitor the remainder of the sites.
Staff on-site confirmed they were powerless to intervene, as they rely entirely on Daybreak’s central management for feed supply. Several workers expressed gratitude for the NSPCA’s presence and stated frankly that “this problem is not going to go away.”
The NSPCA remained on-site until feed was eventually delivered – this after some poultry houses had reportedly gone without feed for over 48 hours.
The NSPCA will be laying criminal charges in terms of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962 against the Board of Directors of Daybreak Foods who are legally responsible for the welfare of the animals in their care – one of whom has previously held a leadership position within the South African Poultry Association.
We extend our gratitude to the Benoni, Brakpan, Kempton Park, Randburg and Springs SPCAs who assisted in attending to these animals over the past weekend.
The NSPCA unequivocally condemns farming systems and practices that result in pain, suffering, distress, or harm. What has transpired at Daybreak Foods is not farming – it is neglect, plain and simple. The NSPCA remains on-site.
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