Dead poultry birds found in Pb, sample reports awaited

Patiala: A number of poultry birds have been found dead in Sanaur block of Patiala district in last one-week, following which the animal husbandry department have collected its samples and sent for testing.
A few days ago, nearly 600 poultry birds were found lying dead in Rakhra village of Patiala district following which samples were sent for testing.But the reports were found to be negative, according to animal husbandry officials.
Similarly, on Saturday again some poultry birds were found dead in Sanaur, but less in number than previous time. The samples of the dead birds were sent for testing.
Rajinder Goyal, deputy director of animal husbandry, Patiala said, “On Saturday, around 25 poultry birds were found lying dead and we have sent the samples for testing. The reports of these samples were supposed to reach by Monday evening, but it has been delayed somehow. We are expecting to receive the reports by Tuesday.”
According to Goyal it may be possible that poultry birds are dying due to improper care by the poultry farm owners. “The feed for the birds cost Rs 32 per kilo. Due to a decline in the demand, the birds may not have been fed well and are dying. None of these dead birds had avian flu case so far,” added Goyal.
Kuljinder Singh Aulakh of Nogavan village in Patiala said, “After Covid-19 lockdown, the poultry farm has faced severe losses and now again they are losing out due to avian flu fear, though no case has been reported positive in Punjab so far. Earlier, the poultry birds were being sold at Rs 90 to 160 per kg but now the prices have come down to Rs 60 to 120 per kg. We guess, this slump will go away soon and the demand of our birds will increase as no case has been reported in Punjab.”