Call for quota to clear backlog of older chickens
Breeders left with excess of 270,000 over age birds after infection caused trade suspension
Local farmers, stuck with 270,000 older chickens after the trade in live poultry was suspended in January, want the government to set a quota to make the sale of over age chickens a priority.
Tang Wai-lun, of the New Territories Chicken Breeders Association, said farmers had been trying to clear the backlog by selling them cheaply since sales of local live poultry resumed three weeks ago, but only about half of the 600,000 older chickens have been sold.
Tang has been discussing a priority system with Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department officials under which retailers and wholesalers would have to buy a set quota of older chickens each day.
"We hope that they can make up half of the total sold by retailers each day, which would be about 7,000 [older] chickens. I believe the 270,000 chickens will take more than a month to sell," Tang said.
About 3,000 older chickens are sold each day at the moment, with no regulation on the proportion of old and young chickens for sale.
Chickens are usually sold at 90 days. Some of those in local farms are now up to 180 days old.
The accumulation also means farmers are unable to bring new chicks to their farms, which could result in a shortage of live chicken in the next few months, breeders say.