WAVERLY, Colo. (AP) -- Grant Family Farms owner Andy Grant says he was forced to kill 12,000 chickens that he could not afford to feed before he filed for bankruptcy.

Grant says financers who loaned the farm north of Waverly $1.5 million assumed control of its finances and withheld funds from egg sales for feed. He says he did the most humane thing possible, killing the chickens before they starved.

According to the Fort Collins Coloradoan (http://tinyurl.com/aely8zb ), the 2,000-acre farm closed last month and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy required the business to liquidate its assets.

Michael Brownlee, co-founder of Localization Partners LLC that loaned Grant the money, says the chicken operation was separate from the farm and his firm had no obligation to pay for feed.

___

Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan, http://www.coloradoan.com

Copyright 2013 The AP.