A TURKEY farmer has spoken about the “absolutely devastating” impact on his business after he was heartbreakingly forced to cull an astonishing 10,000 birds because of avian flu.
Steve Childerhouse, who runs Great Grove Poultry, in Attleborough in Norfolk. said: “Back at the end of September, we unfortunately got diagnosed with avian flu. We lost, in the end, every single one of our birds.
“Normally at this time of year we’re really busy, but there’s nobody here, there’s just a deathly silence.”
Speaking to Patrick Christys on GB News, he said: “We’re actually now sidelined for 12 months.
“We can’t produce any more birds here until next October and, unfortunately, we normally start in June of next year, so potentially at the moment, we’re going to miss next Christmas as well.
“It’s a massive impact on our farm here, and we’re only a small family farm so it’s absolutely devastating for us.”
He said: “To the public, it doesn’t pose a concern. But obviously, from our point of view, once the bird flu gets into the building, it literally just sweeps through.
“It’s absolutely devastating, and it just literally rips through and they just die and there won’t be any survivors in there.”
He warned that a free range Christmas turkey or even a goose could be hard to find this year: “The free range, or the type of the traditional farm fresh turkey, like we do, is going to be in a very, very short supply, and the same for a goose.
“You’re going to be very lucky to get a goose this Christmas, a British goose in any case.
“In this area here in Norfolk, it’s absolutely devastating what’s happened here.
