Bird flu outbreak devastating small poultry farms

Bird flu outbreak devastating small poultry farms

Sari P. Setiogi and Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Tangerang

After millions of chickens have been killed due to bird flu and
other diseases over the past several months, poultry farmers are
now anticipating greater losses caused by the decline in demand
for Indonesian poultry products.

Demands for chicken meat have dropped significantly following
reports that the bird flu now attacking Indonesia and many other
countries in the region is the H5N1 variant, which can also kill
humans.

"In Jakarta alone, demand for chicken meat has dropped by up
to 40 percent," Eko Sandjojo, a director of poultry company PT
Sierad Produce Tbk., Eko Sandjojo, told The Jakarta Post on
Wednesday during a national seminar on the disease.

The price for newly born, or day-old chicks, has also dropped
to Rp 500 (5.8 US cents) from Rp 1,500 prior to the outbreak of
the disease.

"So from every DOC, we lose Rp 1,000," he said.

With national sales averaging 80 million DOC per month, the
industry is now losing some Rp 80 billion each month from DOC
sales alone, according to Eko.

"Sierad, with an output of 10 million DOC per month, is losing
some Rp 8 billion a month," he said.

Normally, the firm sells the DOCs to affiliated farmers and
buys back the poultry after being raised by the farmers. Now,
because of the very low price, rather than selling the DOC, the
firm asks affiliated farmers to raise the chickens for a fee and
takes them back later to be processed.

"If the price is still bad, we'll keep the meat in our cold
storage," said Eko.

Separately, director of animal health at the Ministry of
Agriculture Tri Satya Putri Naipospos H. said that today there
were some 5.5 million broiler chickens on the market that
remained unsold.

"Normally, a broiler chicken is ready for sale after reaching
the age of five weeks. As demand is declining, farmers now have
no choice but to keep their chickens around and feed them for a
longer period," she said.

Eko said that small farmers would suffer the most from the
current crisis, while giant companies would still survive for the
next four or five months.

"Once they fail, it will be difficult for small farmers to
revive their businesses. We are worried that once consumer demand
is back to normal, only a few farmers will want to resume their
business. This will result in a shortage of supply and we'll have
to import more chicken," he said.

A chicken farmer from Blitar, East Java, Hidayaturrahman,
confirmed that in order to cope with the decline in demand for
chicken meat, farmers were forced to keep their broiler chickens
longer than usual. In order to cut costs, farmers provide the
poultry with low-quality feed to slow down their growth.

According to Hidayaturrahman, in order to produce a kilogram
of broiler chicken, a farmer has an average of Rp 6,800 in costs,
including the costs for DOC and feed.

"How can we survive with a broiler chicken now selling for Rp
3,000 per kilogram?" he said.

Separately, secretary general of the Ministry of Agriculture,
Memed Gunawan, told the Post on Thursday that as long as chicken
meat was well-cooked, the public do not need to worry about
getting bird flu.

However, he admitted that public confidence in eating chicken
was not easily restored given the deep psychological impact of
reports on the bird flu.

"In order to help the poultry industry recover, the central
government is now cooperating with regional governments in
fighting the disease and in holding public campaigns that eating
chicken meat is safe," he said.

Dozens of poultry breeders in Tangerang regency have requested
that the regency administration supply them with vaccines to
prevent bird flu from spreading to the currently healthy
chickens.

"We need proper vaccines soon to fight against bird flu. The
administration has not even given us proper instructions to
prevent more loses in our business as of now," Heri Santoso, a
poultry breeder in Legok district said on Tuesday.

Heri said that 80 percent of chickens in the district had been
killed by the scourge.

Separately, regent Ismet Iskandar called on poultry breeders
not to panic while dismissing allegations that 80 percent of the
chickens in the regency had been killed by bird flu.

"I know that a lot of poultry has been killed but it is not
because of bird flu," he claimed, adding that the regency would
distribute the "Legok Vaccine" brand to poultry breeders next
week in a grand, public ceremony.

"During the ceremony to distribute the vaccine, we will also
announce that Tangerang is safe from bird flu," he declared.