Chickens die en masse at Barwala farms

Amit Bathla

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 2

Thousands of chickens died at poultry farms in Barwala here due to some unknown reason, causing panic in the area. The authorities have sprung into action to ascertain what led to the fatalities.

Assn blames it on cold weather

In a press release, Darshan Kumar, president, Haryana Poultry Farmers’ Association, Barwala, ruled out the role of any virus behind the mortalities. “Chicks have died mainly due to extreme weather conditions. We have issued instructions for taking precautions to protect the birds from harsh cold. If you ask me, there is no reason to panic,” he said.

Caters to tricity

Poultry farms in the region cater to consumers in Panchkula, Mohali, Chandigarh, Ambala and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.

No effect on egg, chicken sales

• Egg suppliers and chicken retailers claimed no effect on their business.
• An egg suppler Jagjeet said, “The prices of eggs have remained stagnant. It is being sold at Rs6-7 per piece in retail. We are not sure if the situation will remain the same in the coming days.”
• There is no effect on sales in the local market and the demand for the poultry products is as per expectations, said Ashish Kumar, president, Meat Market Association, Sector 21, Chandigarh.

Asia’s 2nd largest poultry belt

Barwala is Asia’s second largest poultry belt with daily production capacity of 1 crore eggs.

However, poultry farm owners have ruled out any mass death of chickens at their farms. They hesitated to speak out due to a fear of impact on their sales, which would worsen their financial condition. The poultry business has of late started recovering from the Covid-19 effect.

“As the news of birds dying en masse will spread, it will have an adverse impact on the sale of chicken and eggs in the region,” said a poultry farm owner from Barwala, who didn’t wish to be named.

Officials of the stated Animal Husbandry Department and a team of doctors have inspected the affected farms in several pockets of the region and collected samples of the dead and alive chickens. The samples have been sent to Jalandhar for testing.

Dr Anil Banwala, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Haryana, who inspected the affected poultry farms today, confirmed that there has been a high mortality among chickens in Barwala due to an unknown disease.

“The exact cause of the deaths is yet to be established. We have collected samples of the dead and alive chickens from the affected farms and sent these to the Regional Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory, Jalandhar. A preliminary report is expected in a few days,” he said.

“Further action will be taken on the basis of the preliminary report. If poultry farm owners are found violating the norms to check the spread of infectious disease, they will be held accountable,” Banwala said. According to him, at least 15 poultry farms in several pockets of the region have witnessed a large number of fatalities.

Though the exact reason behind the death is unknown yet, intensive cold and Ranikhet disease are being considered as probable causes.