Poultry farms in the west of France will have to empty their animals from Monday. A measure taken to prevent them from being contaminated in turn by the outbreak of avian flu, and to saturate the capacities for stamping out, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Friday. A few weeks before New Year’s Eve, and due to the “acceleration” of the epidemic, the State is organizing the reduction in the number of farmed poultry in an area straddling Vendée and Deux-Sèvres.
“Dedensification measures”
From Monday, turkeys and ducks, “the most sensitive species [au virus] currently”, will thus be sent in advance to the slaughterhouse to be consumed, without being replaced on the farms. As for breeders of chickens and laying hens, they will be able to go to the end of their production cycle, but will have to wait three weeks before to reintroduce animals into their buildings.The ministry, which speaks of “dedensification measures”, was not able this Friday to quantify the number of farms and animals concerned.
“If there are fewer animals in a given area, there is less risk of an outbreak. These are all animals that will not be euthanized,” he summarizes.
1.3 million poultry euthanized
The authorities want to avoid the saturation of stamping-out capacities. These were exceeded at the height of the 2021-2022 crisis, marked by an unprecedented outbreak of cases and the slaughter of more than 20 million poultry. “The State will be there” to compensate for the shortfalls for breeders, assures the ministry. According to a latest assessment, 91 farms, including 37 in Vendée and Deux-Sèvres, have been contaminated since the exceptionally early resurgence of the epizootic this summer. And nearly 1.3 million poultry have been euthanized.
The State had already had to pay more than a billion euros to compensate the losses of professionals linked to the 2021/2022 crisis.