A Victorian poultry farm is under investigation after the release of footage that appears to show workers stretching the necks of chickens and throwing them onto a concrete floor.

Key points: The footage was released by animal activists at Bridgewater Poultry Farm in central Victoria

The footage was released by animal activists at Bridgewater Poultry Farm in central Victoria The birds were being culled following a salmonella outbreak

The birds were being culled following a salmonella outbreak The farm said it was appalled at the treatment of the animals by a contractors' staff

Animal Liberation NSW has released footage that appears to show contract workers mistreating hens at the Bridgewater Poultry Farm, north-west of Bendigo.

In the vision, which the group says was leaked to it, one worker pulls on a chicken's head, and is heard saying it "feels good" after another says "I hate it when their heads come off".

In another part of the footage, a worker can be seen picking up clucking chickens and banging them against a hard surface out of view of the camera.

Another animal is poked with a pole while flapping its wings manically.

The animal welfare group said the footage was filmed on April 1 in one of the cage-free/barn-laid egg sheds, and on May 21 in one of the cage-egg sheds.

"These incidents occurred during depopulation and show blatant mistreatment of these animals," the group's statement said.

Farm wants raw footage given to police

Bridgewater Farm has responded to the cruelty claims in an online statement, saying the actions were appalling.

Farm management said a contractor was employed to "ethically euthanise and dispose of stock" following a recent outbreak of salmonella enteritidis, which prompted a major recall of eggs from supermarket shelves.

"The management and staff at Bridgewater Poultry Farm are appalled by the conduct of employees of an accredited third-party contractor shown in the video released by Animal Liberation," said the statement.

"This conduct is not condoned, approved or permitted in any way by the management or staff of Bridgewater Poultry Farm."

The video showed what appeared to be a worker prodding an injured hen with a pole. ( Supplied: Animal Liberation NSW )

The statement said the consortium would work "proactively" with authorities "to identify any shortcomings in the treatment of stock and the reasons for them".

Bridgewater Farm management also called on the animal welfare group to provide raw footage to Victoria Police or the Department of Agriculture to help with the investigation.

Animal Liberation NSW CEO Lynda Stoner said it was not good enough for the farm to not take "any responsibility whatsoever for what's happened to the chickens on this property".

"If you're going to hire people to work on your property, then you should be there supervising what they're doing and you should at least take responsibility for the disgusting behaviour that we've seen."

Footage 'undermines the good work' of farmers

The Minister for Agriculture, Jaclyn Symes, called the video footage "disturbing".

"It's important to note that Agriculture Victoria will be conducting an investigation in relation to this matter and in conjunction with [meat industry authority] PrimeSafe," she said.

"I think the overwhelming majority of farmers and people in the livestock industry care very deeply for their animals and when this type of footage emerges it undermines the good work that they do."

The facility is in Ripon, the electorate of Victorian Liberal MP Louise Staley, who said the footage was "deeply disturbing and distressing" and that "the abuse of any animal is abhorrent".

Ms Staley has urged the department to investigate the farm as quickly as possible.

"The persons perpetrating these acts of animal cruelty must be identified and prosecuted to the full extent of the law," she said.

"Cruelty to any animal is completely unacceptable."