Pune poultry farmers declare fake flu

Pune: No cases of bird flu in humans have been confirmed in India, but it's still making poultry farmers miserable.

Now farmers from Pune want their area to be declared flu-affected. The Reason is simple. They feel the need for some compensation especially since chicken is not selling.

Poultry farm Owner, Sanjay Zamre says, "If we declare bird flu here, at least we will get some compensation money. Right now we can't feed these birds and when they will die we will not have money to dispose of them as well."

The Pune poultry farmers are angry as sales of poultry products have taken a beating due to the avian influenza scare.

Farmers are forced to sell each broiler chicken for a meagre Rs three, whereas they spend Rs 40 in raising each bird. For the last five days they have not sold a single chicken and now cannot even afford to buy the poultry feed.

Another poultry farm owner, Mahendra Harpale says, "The government should help us out. This is our main business we are in great difficulty. If we don't feed these birds they will die then they will say it's bird flu. We don't even have money for disposing these birds."

Poultry farmers in Maharshtra are helpless and this is their way of preparing for tough times ahead.

As rates of poultry products are falling everyday they can't even afford to pay for the feed of their chicken and only solution they have is to let their chickens die.