Egg shortage likely in Mumbai as most poultry farms hit in Navapur

An egg shortage may be felt in Mumbai and Pune in few days with avian influenza affecting 21 of 29 layer poultry farms at Navapur in Nandurbar, prompting the authorities to plan culling of poultry birds in 25 farms, taking the number of birds culled to over six lakh.In layer poultry farming, egg-laying poultry birds are raised for commercial egg production.

“Of the 29 layer poultry farms in Navapur, two don’t have birds and are closed. Two, with around four lakh poultry birds, are unaffected. Of the remaining 25 layer poultry farms, 21 were affected with avian influenza, while eight cases from four remaining units were sent for tests recently. But even if some are negative, birds in the remaining four farms will be culled to break the chain of infection. Around 50,000 remaining birds are expected to be culled by Sunday,” Maharashtra’s animal husbandry commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh told TOI on Saturday.
“This shortage of eggs is not only due to culling of lakhs of birds but also because many farmers sold off their birds in the wake of the flu,” a poultry expert said. Neha Madaan

Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA