Poultry industry under pressure

The unexpected outbreak of the new H7N9 strain of bird flu is imposing a huge financial strain on breeders and sellers, reports Yu Ran in Wenzhou, Zhejiang.

After being woken in the early morning by his 16,000 chickens crowing in their coops, Pan Jianjing was unable to get back to sleep. Usually a sound sleeper, the 37-year-old breeder's rest has been disrupted by business concerns. The outbreak of the H7N9 strain of bird flu has resulted in the bottom falling out of the market and Pan hasn't sold a chick in the past two weeks.

Pan's 2,000-square-meter farm, in Tengqiao village, Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, an area well known for smoked chicken products, has turned from money-spinner to cash drain.

By Tuesday, the national and provincial labs had tested 47,801 samples from 84,444 collected nationwide, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The 39 positive samples taken from live poultry all originated in the municipality of Shanghai and the provinces of Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, all of which confirmed cases of H7N9 bird flu.

So far, 77 cases have been confirmed nationwide and 16 people have died, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Rising losses

Feeding his chickens costs Pan almost 3,000 yuan ($485) a day, including about 2,000 yuan for a dozen packs of feed, which cost 150 yuan each. The rest goes on wages and electricity charges. With no money coming in, Pan's loss is expected to reach more than 100,000 yuan within the month.

"I used to make an annual net profit of 40,000 to 50,000 yuan, which covered the family's daily expenses and helped to pay for the gradual expansion of my farm. Now I'm worried that I will spend all my savings in just one or two months," said Pan, the family breadwinner and father of a 3-year-old son and a daughter, 11.

The growth cycle of a chicken lasts about 60 days, which means that most of the meat chickens, as opposed to laying chickens, have to be sold within two months, otherwise keeping them will result in a huge waste of food and money.

Special report: H7N9 avian influenza