July 14, 2011

Intense heat kills US North Carolina, Kansas chickens

Too much heat has brought poultry flock fatalities from the state of North Carolina to Kansas, according to local reports.

In North Carolina, about 50,000 of Pilgrim's Pride broiler chickens died after a 45-minute power outage during a heat wave in Johnston County, North Carolina, Pilgrim's spokesman Gary Rhodes confirmed.

The contract grower lost less than half of the birds on his farm, Rhodes said, adding Pilgrim's contacted the state veterinarian and had a broiler manager at the site on Tuesday.

A family turkey farm in Kansas lost 4,300 birds as temperatures reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the state, according to local media reports.

A spokesman for the National Chicken Council said the advent of air-tunnel ventilation systems in poultry buildings has minimised heat-related losses in the industry in recent years.