Around 1,000 newborn chicks have been found abandoned in a field near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire.
According to the RSPCA, most of the birds are fine, but some had died in the tough conditions or had to be humanely put down because of their injuries.
RSPCA inspector Justin Stubbs said: “I have never seen anything like it, it was just a sea of yellow. And the noise was unbelievable”.
“Thankfully, most of the chicks did not appear to be suffering,” he said.
The chicks come from a commercial chick producer, who is cooperating fully with the RSPCA’s investigation.
They have now been collected by the breeder.
Members of the public first discovered the chicks on Friday, and they’re believed to have been abandoned by a third party.
And it’s a good job the public spotted them when they did.
“These tiny birds wouldn’t have survived long out on their own at such a young age and in such unpredictable weather conditions,” Stubbs said.