Below the cages, mounds of  feces stretch as far as the eye can see. At both Buckeye and Daylay, massive cobwebs engulf the walls and ceilings, the manure crawls with maggots, beetles, and other insects. Flies swarm everywhere.

The high emission of ammonia created contributes to the spread of disease and infection for the hens above. This toxic ammonia rises from the decomposing uric acid in the manure pits beneath the cages to produce a painful corneal ulcer condition in the chickens. This is known as "ammonia burn," a condition that often leads to blindness. It often facilitates chronic respiratory diseases such as infectious bronchitis, caused by airborne virus.

At Buckeye Egg Farm and Daylay egg farm, hens that had managed to escape their cages would often fall to the manure pits below, where they become trapped. At both farms, hens in the manure pits had no apparent source of drinking water. Many had insects crawling over their weakened bodies.

At Daylay, investigators found a hen trapped, with half her body buried in wet manure.

Investigators found many birds who had died here, in various forms of decomposition.