Culling of chicken starts in Chikkaballapur village after bird flu outbreak

CHIKKABALLAPUR: After the outbreak of bird flu was confirmed at Varadahalli in the district, the authorities had begun going house to house to collect chicken for culling. Villagers are demanding that the authorities compensate them for their losses.

Meanwhile, the Ajjavara gram panchayat started making public announcements to create awareness about the outbreak and requesting chicken rearers to collect the birds for culling since Thursday night itself.

Poultry farmers are anxious after the administration advised them to take precautionary measures. Two days ago, about 10,000 chicken were transported to Bengaluru to be sold.

For the second day on Friday, the panchayat authorities sprayed a mixture of sodium hydrochloride on all the streets in the village and drainages were cleaned with the help of excavators. Barricades have been put up at the entrance of the village and vehicles going in and out are being checked by the police, revenue and veterinary officials.

Meanwhile, eight more chicken died at the farm of Munikumar on Friday after eight deaths the previous day. Deputy Commissioner Ravindra has instructed the deputy director of the veterinary department, Rangappa, to complete the culling process soon.

According to Rangappa, there were about 400 chicken in the 90 houses in the village and they were buried in a 2 mt X 2 mt pit after culling along with bleaching power and lime. Those who have not given up the birds will be convinced and more culling will be done on Saturday he said.