BJP MP Poonam Mahajan has urged McDonald’s India to end the procurement of eggs from battery cage facilities and start sourcing only cage-free eggs in its supply chain.

India is the third largest egg-producing country in the world, with approximately 120 million egg -laying hens that are bred in cruel, commercial battery cages that are typically as long as an A4 size paper. Battery cages are named so as they are stacked one on top of the other like batteries. While McDonald’s has promised to phase out battery cages in many countries, there has been no commitment from them in India despite repeated efforts from animal welfare advocates.

INDORE: Poultry prices have dropped over 35 per cent in one month in the middle of the peak consumption period. The demand for poultry products has dropped due to the cash crunch.

The peak demand season for poultry products is between November and January when consumption of non-vegetarian food increases to keep the body warm.

With 26 crore eggs and 1 crore chicks a day, India is among the top-5 poultry players in the world. For the domestic poultry industry, which engages about 60 lakh farmers and labourers, the November-January winter period, when more eggs and chicken are consumed, is normally a very lucrative season.

Upcountry markets consume more eggs and chicken in the winter. In an average year, the Northern markets consume 60 per cent more eggs and chicken. But this year, chicken retail outlets wear a deserted look with consumers spending their money sparingly.

The sudden cash crunch and change crisis left many roadside enterprises wringing their hands. With buyers on the decline, poultry farmers put up their own retail stalls on highways and offered the meat at almost 50 percent of the market cost. "Just like the tomato glut scene in Andhra Pradesh, it was tragic that poultry farmers of Medak, Ranga Reddy and Nalgonda, along with their families, lined up on highways to dispose of their stocks daily.

HYDERABAD: At a time when demonetisation is threatening to deal a death blow to the poultry industry and framers across the state, finance minister Etela Rajender assured that government will come to the rescue of poultry farmers.

“November to January is a very crucial period for poultry farmers and industry. But demonetisation has affected the industry harshly. We have been keeping track of the losses incurred by the sector and are exploring various ways to mitigate the losses and protect them,” he said speaking at the Poultry India Expo in Hyderabad on Wednesday, which was attended by poultry farmers and industry stakeholders from across India and abroad.

Hyderabad: Surreptitious drug-evading bacteria with heightened virulence and ability to infect humans have turned up in chickens in India, scientists said, indicating an “alarming” consequence of the nation’s fast-growing poultry industry and the misuse of antibiotics.

INDORE: Post  demonetisation, sale of poultry products has dropped steeply due to lack of cash flow in the market. Subdued purchase by consumers in the peak demand season weighed on the prices of poultry products.

Industry experts said discontinuation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 note from the market has dried funds and created severe shortage of lower denomination notes.

The sharp fall in the demand for poultry consumption has led to a drop in the prices of poultry products.

About 200 Indian and 50 international exhibitors from over 30 countries are expected to attend the 10th edition of Poultry India's Expo to be held here from tomorrow to November 25. 

Nearly 800 industry delegates from India and South Asian nations are likely to attend the 'Knowledge Day 2016', a seminar to be held on the first day. Prominent speakers will talk at the event on issues concerning the poultry industry.

The average meat consumers are deprived and the traders, hassled. The severe shortage of legal currency has almost crippled the poultry, meat and fisheries industries.

The demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes has impacted these business significantly, so much so that some of the traders have started shutting shops.

Vijayawada: Poultry farmers are badly hit with sharp fall in egg prices after demonetisation of high denomination notes.Marginal farmers having one lakh hen are losing at least Rs 60,000 a day on sale of eggs and the losses are higher for the farmers having below one lakh hen.With the money transactions becoming difficult across the country due to demonetisation, the egg dealers are refusing to buy eggs from local farmers and they are offering lesser prices than fixed by the NECC. 

HYDERABAD: The Indian poultry sector hopes profit margins will improve considerably this winter season, ending a four-year weak streak as good rains have increased activity in the rural economy and reduced feed costs. 

Anticipating a decent increase in demand, poultry breeders are preparing to boost production by 10-15 per cent, after pruning production and importing feed ingredients for three years owing to recurrent droughts. 

The Maharashtra government has decided to set up ‘intensive poultry development’ blocks in 14 districts on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis chaired.

“Intensive poultry development blocks will be set up in 14 districts on a PPP basis,” an official in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said. At present, there are a few poultry groups in 16 districts. The decision would allow 28 more to be set up across the state.

Drop is temperature due to cloudy sky is expected to keep feed intake, egg production and egg shell quality at normal.As the northeast monsoon was over the southern districts, drop in temperature in the region would not affect the bird’s health. But poultry farmers were asked to control moisture level in feed ingredients such as maize and soya bean meal to sustain production. Also, farmers were asked not to stock feed for long time.

The current bout of bird flu  won't have any impact on India's poultry as it is limited to just wild birds senior minister from the Central government claimed even as both the Central and National government engaged on a war of words over who should held responsible for controlling the spread.

India annually exports over Rs 750 crore of poultry products mainly to Gulf nations.

Panaji: India is going to be one of the leading nations in Asia to embrace the immune complex (IC) vaccine, said Dr Marcelo Paniago, director, global veterinary services, Ceva Sante Animal, France. He was speaking on the subject of immune complex diseases at an event organized by the ICAR-CCARI, Old Goa, on Thursday.

With a growth of almost 8 per cent per annum, India is among the leading countries of modern poultry development, Mr. Eknath B. Chakurkar, Director, ICAR-Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute (CCARI) said here on Thursday.

“The poultry industry is thinking about welfare of the birds to ensure hygienic food-concepts on par with the industry in the Western world," Dr. Sanjay Gavkare, General Manager (Technical) of Pune-based Venkateshwara Hatcheries said.

With maize and soya bean meal are found to contain high moisture content, which is favourable for mycotoxin occurrence, poultry farmers are asked to be careful while using such ingredients.

A press release from Agromet Field Unit of Veterinary College and Research Institute here and Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai said that the sky will be partly cloudy with chance of occasional drizzling at isolated places in the district over the next two days.

The preliminary screening of samples of eggs at the Centre of Excellence in Poultry Science of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Thrissur, in the wake of reports of sale of chemical or ‘Çhinese’ eggs, did not find any artificial nature in the samples. The samples were collected by the Food Safety and Standards authority from various markets in Ernakulam district.

“All the eggs were natural, but the yolks of the samples were thick,” KVASU sources said. Moreover, the egg membrane was easily identifiable because of its thickness, the sources said.