The farm where egg-laying hens had been secretly filmed in appalling conditions by an animal welfare group has been slapped with a fine and those in charge have been reported to the prosecution for falsely labelling their eggs as organic, according to the newspaper Dnevnik.

The paper says the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection found a number of irregularities in battery hen breeding and veterinary care at the Kaučič family farm in Gornji Ivanjci, NE Slovenia, a supplier of a number of public institutions, including kindergartens.

The administration inspected the farm in mid-January, following the release of secret footage filmed by the AETP animal welfare group at the farm, which caused a public furore.

Veterinary inspectors issued a fine of over €2,200 after finding the enriched battery cages were overcrowded and insufficiently cleaned, hens were infested with parasites and cadavers of rodents were lying around, among other things.

The secret footage showed hens laying eggs on top of dead hens, rodent cadavers on the floor in the isle between battery cages stacked on top of each other.

The food safety inspector meanwhile examined the farm's egg labelling and packing room and the food processing room, where noodles were made, before being shipped to a number of public institutions, such as schools and nursing homes.

Hygienic and technical shortcomings were found in the pasta room, with the inspector issuing a warning and providing a deadline by which the problems must be resolved, Dnevnik reported on 9 April, adding that the inspection procedure is not yet concluded.

In the egg labelling and packing room, which also labels and distributes eggs by other producers, the inspectors found that the Kaučič family had been labelling their eggs as organic, having forged a symbol of another, organic eggs producer.

The administration has reported those in charge at the farm to the Murska Sobota district prosecution office over the forged seal and for mislabelling eggs as organic, according to Dnevnik.

The farm was also fined nearly €1,700 for failing to provide traceability of eggs, while the person in charge was ordered to pay €420.