‘Poultry from Namakkal safe’

Amidst reports of birdflu sweeping through Kerala and other parts of the country, owners of poultry farms in Namakkal, one of India’s largest hubs for poultry products, have stepped up efforts to instil confidence about their operations.

All precautionary measures such as biosecurity and farm hygiene practices are being implemented in the farms, they said on Wednesday.

“The flu that has been reported among ducks and birds like crows. There is no impact on chicken farms,” said Vangili Subramaniam, Managing Partner of the Namakkal-based Vangili Feeds and President of the Tamil Nadu Poultry Farmers’ Marketing Society.

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Pointing out that hundreds of crows have died in Madhya Pradesh, he said the officials are checking for bird flu. In Kerala, many ducks were affected, not chicken, he said. “ We take precautionary measures throughout the year. Going a step further, we ensure that there are no trees in the poultry farms so that no wild birds come from outside,” he added.

Agreeing with Subramanian, NK Saravanakumar of KL Poultry Farm, Namakkal, said that the farms in Namakkal are well managed and taken care of throughout the year. The birds are provided quality feeds and vaccinated regularly. “All preventive measures are taken, ensuring wild birds do not come near the farms as they are the biggest carriers of the flu,” he added. “There is a veterinary centre in Namakkal and officials have been regularly monitoring the poultry farms,” he said.

Also read: Bird flu virus alert issued in Kerala

Namakkal has over 1,000 egg farms and around three crore eggs are produced every day. Nearly one lakh eggs and around 50,000 chickens are supplied to Kerala from Namakkal, said a source.

According to R Vangili of Vangili Transport, Namakkal, all the trucks that carry poultry from and to Namakkal are thoroughly disinfected at State borders. “As of now, the truck industry has not been impacted due to the reported flu outbreak. However, if it spreads, the demand for poultry products could reduce, and this in turn could affect the demand for trucks, he added.