SAN SIMON -- Following the Avian Influenza outbreak in San Luis town recently, thousands of chickens in adjacent San Simon town were culled on Wednesday, August 23, as part of the government's the preventive measures.
Alexander Manansala, owner of Manansala Poultry Farm, said he voluntarily turned over the 13,000 chicken he raised after the ban on shipment of poultry products was imposed.
The Manansala Poultry Farm is located in Barangay Sto. Niño here which is a few meters away from the seven-kilometer controlled area.
Manansala stressed that since the bird flu outbreak was made public, he had a hard time marketing and shipping his products in Metro Manila where most of his clients are located.
“Supposedly for marketing na ang mga manok kasi nada 30 to 35 days na sila. Kaya lang hindi namin maimarket dahil unang-una, may ban. Pangalawa, mababa ang demand dahil natakot nga ang tao. Kaya mas mabuti na sumama na ako sa culling at disinfection para malinis na ako kapag nagsimula ulit,” he said.
Manansala said the chickens he raised were not infected with the bird flu virus and his actions are merely for preventive purposes.
He added that the mortality rate is at five percent or around five to seven chickens daily which he still considered as normal.
“Itong mga namamatay ay ‘yung mga naipit lang. Walang unusual death,” he said.
Before the culling, Manansala said he first coordinated with the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Central Luzon to seek guidance.
He added that the DA-Central Luzon will also compensate him with P70 per chicken or around P900,000 for the 13,000 chickens culled.
Municipal Agricultural Officer Eleazar Santos said that San Simon town has one chicken broiler farm (Manansala Poultry Farm), and three commercial chicken layer farms all located along Quezon road.
He disclosed that all four poultry farms were already taken samples of the birds' saliva for testing.
The three commercial chicken layer farms are awaiting the results first before implementing measures.