We’re glad this one came well after lunch: The FDA inspectors who visited Wright County Egg, one of the producers at the heart of the salmonella-related egg recall, reported finding  wild birds, rodents, dead and live flies, maggots and chicken manure piled up to eight feet high in or near the producer’s facilities.

The FDA’s so-called Form 483 reports (follow links for the actual reports) for  Wright County Egg and the other farm suspected as a source of the tainted eggs,  Hillandale Farms of Iowa, indicate inspectors’ observations only and don’t constitute a final ruling on any violations of FDA regulations. But they make for pretty stomach-turning reading. Among the findings of the report on Wright County Egg, also known as Quality Egg:

Non-chicken feathers, live wild birds and pigeons in or near some of the laying houses.
Chicken manure piled between 4 feet and 8 feet high in a pit below some of the laying houses. “The outdoor access doors to the manure pits at these locations had been pushed out by the weight of the manure, leaving open access to wildlife or domesticated animals,” the report says.
In some laying houses, “dark liquid which appeared to be manure was observed seeping through the concrete foundation to the outside.”
Live mice observed inside laying houses.
Live and dead flies “too numerous to count” inside laying houses. On a conference call with reporters, an FDA official reported that inspectors crushed live flies under their feet. There were also live and dead maggots “too numerous to count” on the manure pit floor of one of the houses.
At a feed mill, bird were observed roosting and flying in the storage and milling facility, and nesting material was found in areas including ingredient storage.
In a statement, Wright County Egg said the company has “worked around the clock to address concerns that were raised verbally during FDA’s inspection, with many of those being fixed as soon as they were identified” and would do the same with the written report. The “vast majority” of the issues identified in the report have already been addressed, the company said, and the rest are expected to be corrected by mid-September.

As the FDA said last week, salmonella contamination was found in several places in the Wright Egg and Quality Egg facilities, including a sample of meat and bone meal used in feed. But the FDA has not yet indicated the exact source of the troublesome contamination.

At Hillandale Farms, FDA inspectors observed unsealed rodent holes and live rodents entering facilities, as well as standing water and liquid manure leaking into a section of the floor. Salmonella was found in water from an egg-washing station. A spokeswoman for Hillandale Farms told the WSJ the company was “in the process of responding to the FDA’s written report to provide further explanation and clarification of what was observed,” adding that “several of the issues” had already been identified by the company and were being dealt with.

The FDA couldn’t give more detail on the ongoing investigation into the two farms. Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods, said over the next six months the agency would inspect every facility subject to new egg-safety rules that went into effect July 9. That will cover 50,000 laying hens representing 80% of U.S. egg production, he said. The FDA will prioritize its list by an estimate of which facilities are at greatest risk, he said.

It’s difficult to know how common the kind of observations seen at the farms, since these egg rules are new. But Taylor said “we have no reason to believe this is practice in the industry.”

Update: We’ve updated with comments from the two companies.

Reported by Katherine Hobson