Virus scare: Poultry farmers continue to bury chickenss alive

Amidst coronavirus scare and drastic fall in prices of chicken and eggs, the poultry farmers in Belagavi and Dharwad districts on Friday buried over 25,000 birds alive.

Rafiq Inamdar, a poultry farmer from Masaraguppi in Hukkeri taluk, Belagavi district, buried alive 7,000 chickens while Suleman Ladkhan in Gokak taluk buried over 8,000 live birds. Unable to cope with losses owing to price fall, the poultry farmers decided to shut down their business, sources said.

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In B Gudihal village, Dharwad district, two poultry farmers Jagadish Koti and Prakash Hebballi buried thousands of chicks in a large pit dug up at their farm.

Jagadish Koti, the owner of the farm, told DH, "Prices of chicken and eggs in the market has come down drastically owing to rumours linked to the deadly coronavirus. We are finding it tough to feed the birds and manage farm. We have no choice but to bury the chicks alive."