BEIJING, Feb 4 Reuters - Some poultry farmers in the province at the heart of China's coronavirus outbreak are having to euthanise young birds as new rules to contain the disease have paralyzed the transport of feed supply and live animals to slaughterhouses. The ban on the movement of live poultry, believed to be a potential disease risk, has stopped farmers in Hubei from getting chickens and eggs to market.
Hubei is home to Wuhan city, where the coronavirus was first identified. The epidemic has now killed people and infected more than 20, nationwide. Lacking feed for their birds, some farmers are feedng them less, while others are destroying some of their flock, according to a Hubei Poultry Association official, who declined to be identified as he is not authorized to talk to media.
Videos have circulated on Chinese social media this week appearing to show farmers in unspecified locations burying chicks, ducklings and adult ducks alive, as well as eggs. Reuters was unable to verify the videos, or confirm when and where they were filmed.
Provinces elsewhere have been impacted too, according to analysts, with villages and counties across China erecting blockades on roads in a bid to keep the coronavirus out.
Hatcheries that sell day-old chicks or ducklings to farmers to raise before being sent to slaughterhouses are especially hard hit. With severe restrictions on transport, farmers are unable or unwilling to buy new chicks to restock their farms, said Dong Xiaobo, China general manager for France's Orvia, China's second-biggest supplier of breeding ducks.
