Urban Exploration - The Abandoned Chicken Coop

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

Here is a visit to an abandoned poultry farm located in an isolated corner of the countryside. I discovered this place completely by chance while traveling toward an abandoned castle. It was late in the evening. I don’t like visiting sites at night—it makes me feel like a thief—so I postponed the visit until the following morning.

Throughout the visit, I didn't have total certainty that it was truly abandoned. It seemed more like it was at the tail end of a court-ordered liquidation and that, sooner or later, this place would find a new future. No electricity, no water—the signals were all green. I explored, hoping not to disturb anyone. I didn't see a soul; only some redstarts living in the rafters, loudly defending their territory.

Astronomy in Eggs
The site consists of four hangars that once housed battery hens for egg production. For us "urbex-ignoramuses," the numbers are astronomical. 145,000 eggs for a single small delivery! Can you imagine the colossal amount of work involved?

The cages have all been dismantled for resale. What remains is the rest of the structure—a sort of small cathedral of steel and concrete. How much labor went into this place? How much frantic activity—feeding, cleaning, gathering, delivering. Even though everything is now empty, you can still powerfully feel the trace of the "insane workload" here. The managers must have been courageous people; much like all those in agriculture, really.

Success and Downfall
The business was led by two men and their wives; one couple lived on-site and handled the technical operations, while another couple in the Drôme department managed the administration and accounting. The facility housed 114,000 hens. Our two project leaders came from a company that collapsed during the poultry crisis of 2000-2003. They bought the facility and founded their own company in 2003.

Between 2014 and 2015, a sharp conflict broke out between the partners. This led to a lawsuit and the conviction of one of them, who was subsequently ousted from the company. The last financial statements were filed in 2019, and a formal liquidation was pronounced in 2020.

A Moment of Panic
I would have liked to stay longer in the hangars, but I kept my visit short so as not to be too intrusive. However, total panic set in: back at the car, I realized I had left my phone in the offices. I had been using it as a flashlight. What an idiot! I was very lucky to find it again, because the place is vast, after all!