Focus: Bird flu puts organic chickens into lockdown from Pennsylvania to France

Vital Farms

02/05/2022 11:00

By Tom Polansek and Sybille de La Hamaide
    CHICAGO/PARIS, May 2 (Reuters) - Organic and free-range
chickens have been thrown into lockdown.
    Egg-laying hens that normally have access to the outdoors
can no longer roam as freely or feel the sun on their beaks as
some U.S. and European farmers temporarily keep flocks inside
during lethal outbreaks of bird flu, according to egg producers
and industry representatives.
    The switch comes as a surprise to shoppers already shelling
out more money for eggs due to cullings of infected flocks.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2WA1YB Consumers pay extra for specialty eggs, thinking
they come from hens that can venture out of barns. 
    U.S. watchdogs say retailers and egg companies must do a
better job informing customers that hens are kept inside, as
shoppers track their spending amid record global food inflation.
Keeping birds inside is safest for now, according to government
officials, because a single case of bird flu results in entire
flocks being culled. The virus can also infect humans, though
experts say the risk is low.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2WR0PT
    In France, where the government has temporarily required
farmers to keep chickens indoors since November, some retailers
are defying obligations to post clear information for consumers
about the mandate, according to checks of grocery stores by
Reuters.
    "I didn't know that they had to stay inside," said Josephine
Barit, 34, a shopper at a small Paris store that had no
indications hens may have been confined. 
    "So it's not really 'free range' anymore?" she said. "I
suppose there is no other choice because of bird flu, but they
could say so."
    Allowing chickens time outside is thought to be more humane,
giving consumers some peace of mind about buying animal farm
products. 
    Veterinarians say poultry with outdoor access are
particularly vulnerable to becoming infected with bird flu,
officially known as highly pathogenic avian influenza or HPAI,
because migratory birds spread the disease. Poultry can fall ill
from contact with infected wild birds, their feathers or feces.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends farmers keep
poultry indoors "as long as the HPAI outbreak is ongoing," but
has not required confinement.
    
    DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS
    The U.S. outbreak is the second-worst in history, with more
than 35 million birds wiped out this year. France has culled
nearly 16 million birds in its worst outbreak ever, while
infections have also hit nations including Britain, Italy and
Spain.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2VY213
    European requirements to confine chickens have left some
consumers dissatisfied even when retailers post signs notifying
customers of the change.
    "At the end of the day you still pay the price of 'free
range' or organic eggs when the fowls have actually never seen
the sky," said Marc Dossem, 52, a shopper who spoke in a large
supermarket in Paris. 
    EU and British marketing standards allow for free-range
laying hens to be kept inside for up to 16 weeks before
companies must issue advisories to customers.
    Britain temporarily required eggs from "free-range" hens
kept indoors to be labeled "barn eggs," but has allowed farmers
to let hens outside again starting in May.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2WN1L5 
    In Spain, hens must be kept indoors in special risk and
surveillance areas of the country, said Mar Fernández, Spanish
head of the Interprofessional Organisation of Eggs and Egg
Products. They have not yet been indoors for more than 16 weeks,
she said.
    "There are countries that no longer have eggs from
free-range hens available for months," Fernández said.
    U.S. authorities do not require organic egg producers to
update labels when unexpected events like bird flu change
production practices, the agriculture department said. Eggs
labeled "organic" as well as "free range" must come from hens
with access to the outdoors in the United States.
    
    MISSING THE SUNSHINE
    Among the suppliers now prohibiting outdoor access is Pete
and Gerry's, which says it is the leading U.S. producer of
organic, free-range and pasture-raised eggs. The business sells
eggs in stores owned by Kroger Co  KR.N  and Amazon.com Inc's 
 AMZN.O  Whole Foods Market. 
    "We will be constantly evaluating the exposure risk and will
have them back outside in the sunshine as soon as possible,"
Pete and Gerry's said.
    Vital Farms Inc  VITL.O , another U.S. producer of
pasture-raised eggs, said it confined hens after outbreaks in
Europe. Both producers have information online about the switch,
but their "free-range" and "pasture raised" labels remain the
same.
    Whole Foods, Kroger and Target Corp  TGT.N  did not respond
to questions about whether they would post notices for shoppers.
    "Consumers should get what they pay for and they're not
getting the product as advertised," said Danielle Melgar, a food
advocate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
    Some European producers are resisting orders to confine
poultry, despite the risks.
    "Laying hens can be quite aggressive so we let them out a
little bit every day or they will kill each other," said Emilie
Ravalli, who runs an organic farm in Corcoue-sur-Logne in
western France. 
    But barns can be comfortable, and chickens do not always go
outside each day even when they are able to, said Gregory
Martin, a poultry scientist at Pennsylvania State University. 
    "Confinement gives us safety," Martin said. "Only live birds
produce eggs, so it's to our advantage to keep our birds safe."

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
FACTBOX-Bird flu spreads on U.S. poultry farms     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2VA1KH
FOCUS-Bird flu, Ukraine war push egg prices higher worldwide   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2WA1YB
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago and Sybille de La Hamaide
in Paris
Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt in London and Emma Pinedo
Gonzalez in Madrid; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Matthew
Lewis)
 ((Thomas.Polansek@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/tpolansek))