19,000 chicks culled in Chitwan

ATOTAL of 19,000 chicks brought illegally to Chitwan were culled on Monday at the initiation of the Livestock Service Office (LSO) and poultry traders. A total of 5,000 chicks were brought from Ashapuri Hatchery of Bhaktapur, while other 15,000 were imported from India via Nawalparasi, according to LSO chief Ram Kumar Karki. The illegallyimported chicks were found during a regular check. “Following the outbreak of bird flu in Kathmandu, we have increased vigilance in Chitwan,” Karki said, adding those involved in importing the chicks have been taken under control after they failed to produce the sales licence. The outbreak of the bird flu has hit local traders hard as chicken sales in the district have gone significantly along with the drop in production. The Animals Quarantine Office has also made its inspections stern. “We have completely stopped the supply of chickens and eggs to/from Kathmandu, while the supply to others parts of the country has also gone down by half,” said Dhirendra Prashad Kurmi, a veterinarian at the office. Chitwan district used to supply around 25 trucks of chickens to Kathmandu, Pokhara and Butwal, among other areas, every day. Now, the supply has come down to around seven trucks a day. Kathmandu alone consumes around 200,000 kg chicken per day, out of which Chitwan supplies some 30 percent. Meanwhile, chicken meant price has increased significantly in the market despite the bird flu scare. And in this case, neither demand nor supply is the price driver. Traders said they themselves hiked the price as “people do not consume meat if the price is decreased”. The decline in production of layer chickens has impacted the production of eggs as well. Production of layer chicken has fallen by around 20 percent, while egg production has dropped some 30 percent, according to Nepal Eggs Producers Association.