Broiler chickens die due to suspected bird flu

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Mar 24 (UNI) Hundreds of broiler chickens died last night in a poultry farm at Thaneerpandal near Kaurmathampatti in the district due to suspected birdflu disease.

Police said the owner of the farm threw the dead chickens on the roadside. On a complaint from the villagers, a police team rushed to the spot and asked the owner to bury the chickens in his farm.

The State Animal Husbandry Department Joint Director K Murthy said that he has not received any information about the deaths so far.

He said he will soon depute officials in the spot to ascertain the reason.

The Broiler Corordination Committee (BCC) Manager Narasimhan told UNI that 650 birds out of 6500 broiler chicken died due to shortage of food.

He said though the farm owner has informed the parent company earlier about the shortage of feed, but it was not received, due to lack of communication.

Mr Narasimhan, however, said the people need not fear as the disease has not affected the birds.

UNI KS MSJ KP1330