Monday, July 20, 2015

Chicken breeders safeguard flocks from flu

Chicken breeders in Iowa have gone to unusual lengths to protect their grandparent lines from avian influenza.

Some have shipped birds to Brazil.

The owner of Murray McMurray Hatchery packed up 3,500 chicks and drove all night to Texas “just to have them in a safe place” after the first outbreak there.

More than 48 million birds have died of the flu in the United States this year, prompting egg prices to more than double and some to question whether there will be an adequate supply of turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Hy-Line International, the world's biggest genetics company for egg-laying chickens, moved part of its breeding stock from Iowa to several other states within the last few months, said Tom Jorgensen, general counsel for the company. Before the outbreak, Hy-Line kept portions of its flock in just one other state as a precaution, he said.

The best genetic lines for egg quantity and quality can be used to breed hens year after year.


Jorgensen declined to reveal where Hy-Line had shipped its breeder birds, citing "security." 

The company, which is owned by the EW Group GmbH in Germany, is preparing to move more birds out of Iowa as a precaution, he said.