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Poor chickens!  At a farm in the Wyre Valley, Herefordshire, approximately 30 chickens have lost their lives from a fatal infection.  But it isn't a virus or disease that is causing the animals to die- the culprit?  Hot-air balloons. You maybe wondering what hot-air balloons have to do with the death of these hens, the answer is very simply that the balloons frighten the chickens to death. Since the summer, hot-air balloons have been flying over Caplor Farm, where flock owner Abbi Vincent-Lloyd reports 30 of her 300 chickens have died from panic.

Miss Vincent-Lloyd said: 'When the chickens see the balloon they go crazy, they think it's a giant monster coming to eat them.

'Hot air balloons might look pretty but the chickens are terrified of them especially when they hear the hissing of the gas being put into the balloon.'

An autopsy revealed the cause of death was peritonitis.  The poor chickens run around in a panicked frenzy, desperately seeking shelter, but colliding with one another, causing them to smash their un-laid eggs inside of them.  The broken shells get into their tissue and create a fatal infection. It definitely sounds like a terribly painful way to go. The company operating the balloon tours is taking measures to steer clear of Caplor Farm.

"The company's flight operations director Sandra Hossack said: 'We obviously work a lot in the countryside and obviously we want to make sure we do not harm or distress any animals we fly over. 'Our pilots have now updated their aviation maps so that Caplor Farm is marked as somewhere they should avoid or only pass over at high altitude.'"

A hard lesson to be learned for the farmer and her flock.  Big hot-air balloons are no good for little chickens.

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