TONOPAH, AZ — Newly released government records are revealing what happened behind the scenes as crews killed millions of egg-laying hens during the 2025 bird-flu outbreak at Hickman’s Family Farms.
The documents detail a chicken-killing operation disrupted across two days, heat-related illnesses among workers, an employee’s fall from upper cages and a fight in an employee parking lot.
Animal Outlook, an animal-protection organization, said the documents are a look at what really happened during the biggest animal disease outbreak in Arizona history.
“We really get a glimpse from these public records of the enormous untold suffering of these 6.3 million birds inside the facility,” Executive Director Ben Williamson said.
USDA spending records also show that Hickman's was compensated more then $17 million by federal government indemnity payments alone as a result of last year's outbreak.
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How the chickens were killed
The records show crews used a method called “ventilation shutdown plus heat,” or VSD+, to kill the infected flocks.
The process involves sealing the barns, shutting down ventilation and using heaters to raise the temperature until the birds die.
“The birds are essentially baked to death over a process which can take several hours,” Williamson said.
One operation involving Barn 16 stretched across two days. An incident log says the barn reached its required minimum temperature on the morning of June 1.
Later, plastic used to seal the barn blew off, forcing crews to turn off the heat and reset the plastic. The process restarted, and the heaters were shut down more than 27 hours after the first recorded temperature milestone.
Worker injuries and police calls
Records show more than 300 people worked on the response, most of them were contractors.
On May 29, an incident log documents a 911 call for a fight in an employee parking lot.
On June 12, the records say law enforcement staged nearby to serve a warrant on another property. An entry soon after says workers at one site fled by going under fences.
“We want to see workers, contractors who know what to do and know how to do it humanely,” Williamson said.
The logs also document at least six heat-related medical incidents among workers. One person was transported to a hospital after experiencing shortness of breath and chest pain.
In another incident, a worker reportedly fell from upper cages inside a barn and landed on his head. The worker was sent to urgent care.
Calls for greater preparation
Animal Outlook is calling for more advance planning and consideration of other depopulation methods during future outbreaks.
“There’s no excuse anymore for not being prepared for an outbreak, especially a facility as large as Hickman’s,” Williamson said.
Hickman’s operations have since been sold to a Brazilian agricultural producer.
Millions of the dead birds were also buried on-site, raising concerns among Tonopah residents about possible groundwater contamination.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has said the risk of contamination is low.
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