Christmas turkey supplies could be at risk if the worst avian flu outbreak in UK history continues to spread, the National Farmers' Union has warned.
More than three million birds have had to be culled so far, with Avian Influenza Prevention Zones introduced in Norfolk, Suffolk, parts of Essex and the whole of the South West of England.
Bird flu has been detected at 155 sites across the UK.
While wild bird populations have been severely affected, poultry farmers are growing increasingly concerned about their livestock - and whether Christmas turkey supplies could be impacted.
"It is a risk," James Mottershead, chairman of the NFU Poultry Board, told Sky News.
"If bird flu, for example, gets into turkeys that could cause holy carnage; that could cause real supply chain issues in the run-up to Christmas time. The realities of it are quite severe.
"I do know of some instances where seasonal turkey producers have been affected by this, so far, this year. If you have an outbreak on your farm and your farm is classed as an infected premises, it is serious - you could be out of production up for up to 12 months."
@nabob @roz @Pinkaholic79 ๐๐ฆ๐บ @Janet ๐๐ฐ๐๐น @harryflatters @Tanith @Flossy ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฐ @rj203vw999 and anyone interested
@Happygirl
If there is still a problem with Xmas turkey supply I might just start to feed the massive, big, large, pheasant that thinks it can live in my front garden! It's bigger than Autolycus - mind you he's not a big cat. I just hope that the two never meet. I keep him in when I see the bird - so far the two have not met. Think I know who would win the fight.
no this isn't the actual one - just a random photo.
@Happygirl not too bad.
Dan seems ok, it's hard to tell how much she misses being part of a flock.
She mooches around the garden and knocks on the window to tell us to come out with food if Woody the one eyed wood pigeon turns up.
She will raise the alarm if she spots one of the sparrow hawks that have taken a liking for the easy to catch pigeons in the area of if a cat comes creeping along the fence.
She's eating and drinking and digging holes all over the back of the garden so I guess she's ok.
When I first met her have the run of the garden instead of just the back part, she rearranged my raised beds for me, digging up the one I just needed then starting on the one with big plants in.
I put all the soil back and re seeded. It has a cloche on top of it now.cl o
Thank you @Happygirl, we're only buying one of those very small frozen turkeys in a foil tray, it's just the 3 of us I think this year, if I get it now, it shouldn't be affected.
Thanks for the info @Happygirl - We won't worry too much about it. There's plenty of nice alternatives - in any case, we hope to be in Belgium so maybe they don't have it!!
Thank you for the information @Happygirl. What a good idea buying two! I hope that there are still some available when I get round to buying my Christmas food.
We brought a spare one last year, it is something we always do as sometimes it is nice to have on another occasion
I hope your chickens are okay @roz