HUBBARDSTON, Mass. (AP) – The losses from a fire that killed approximately 15,000 chickens were estimated at $1 million, fire officials said.

Investigators during the weekend were still looking for the cause of Friday night’s blaze in a barn at The Country Hen farm. The farm’s owner, George Bass, told the Worcester Telegram and Gazette that he believed the cause was electrical.

Bass said he had 67,000 hens at three locations, and the birds lost represented about 20 percent of his business. Still, he expected to meet all his outstanding orders.

“I hope to have this rebuilt by August, get a new barn in here, and then we’ll be back at the capacity we were before,” he said.

The Country Hen sells organic eggs at grocery stores around New England.

AP-ES-02-29-04 2147EST