Fri, 06 Jan 2006

Chicken Industry Plans to Test Flocks

What really struck me here was the exposure of industrial agriculture. We're not chicken farmers - we're the chicken "industry". The sheer size of commercial operations is staggering - the average flock of meat birds is 55,000 to 60,000, and that there are an estimated 150,000 flocks produced year.

By way of scale comparison, my meat flocks are 200 birds, and I produce 4 or five flocks in a typical year. I wouldn't have to test any of my birds for bird flu - if it gets in, my flocks would be dead within the week. And, because all of my birds are free range, it'd take out my egg layers, too.

I know that testing 11 birds out of 60,000 is seemingly insignificant, but bird flu doesn't spread by eating contaminated meat - just breathing the same air as the vector is enough. Consequently, this is more of a measure to protect the industry than it is to protect consumers. There is no protection for consumers: if it gets in, you'll be eating a lot of lamb, beef and pork. There won't be any chicken. And if it makes the evolutionary jump to be transmissible human to human, more than a few of us will be dead.

AP - Chicken companies intend to test every chicken flock in the United States for bird flu before slaughter, an industry group said Thursday.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

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