Chicken deaths set immediate rise in egg prices

Daniel Pereyra, a member of the National Cooperative of the United Chicken Farmers Association (Conafpu), ​​highlighted The Observer that do not remember a heat wave so intense and widespread, “at least not in 50 years”, with temperatures that at times approached 50 °C in several farms located in areas of Montevideo and Canelones, mainly.

Nicolás Chiesa, national director of the Farm, reported that it is in a stage of monitoring the adversity, with visits to the farms and requests for information from the unions that bring together the producers of the poultry sector. The same happens in other areas of the farm, he specified.

This Monday, he added, at the meeting of the so-called Emergency Committee in the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) This situation and that of the rest of the productive items affected by high temperatures and lack of rain, climatic phenomena that have lasted at least until this Saturday, will be analyzed.

The sheds have fans and water sprinklers to lower the internal temperature.

Three likely measures

Based on what both sources commented, among the possible measures to support the victims are the flexibility in the payment to the Social Security Bank (BPS) of the quarterly fee that is about to expire; quotate the payment of the UTE account for this month; Y access to special credits to use capital to restore productive capacity.

Chiesa stressed that he knew of cases of producers who lost 40 to 50% of their hens.

Ines Guimaraes.

Laying hens, a category of the poultry industry highly affected by the heat wave.

Thousands of dead animals

On the other hand, both Chiesa and Pereyra said that at the moment it is difficult to estimate how many birds have died, although there are surely thousands of animals, because there was a lot of mortality on Friday and cases also continued to appear this Saturday, of chickens or hens that managed to spend the night of Friday but were very heartfelt.

Pereyra said that in these times the producers (there are about 200 façoneros, plus another 150 in the chicken sector who do own their birds) have knowledge of management and technology that make it possible for the birds to withstand high temperatures (fans to cool the sheds, even water sprinklers, the use of a lower density of animals per square meter, for example), but that in this case there were not only several days with very intense heat (also during the nights), but that it comes from two or three previous similar episodes that mean that, to put it in a very graphic way, “The chicken arrived tired in this heat wave”.

john samuel

It is estimated that thousands of birds died between Friday and Saturday.

According to data accessed by this producer, whose activity is that of façonero, the price of the egg already this Monday could increase by 20%. To have a reference, the maple with 30 units that is being offered at the fair for $150 can go up to $180.

Pereyra specified that it must be taken into account that this is not a single value, given that the price varies greatly depending on the size of the egg and the place of sale.

Camilo Dos Santos

The price of the egg will rise rapidly, an estimated 20%.

That, he explained, is even more noticeable in the case of the price of chicken meat: “The difference is brutal, there are cases, we have verified, in which chicken from the same origin, that is, the same chicken, is at $110 a kilo in one place of sale and almost $200 a kilo in another place”.

For Pereyra, the price of chicken meat should not rise in the short term, despite the adversity already explained.

The deaths occurred at the level of laying hens, but also in chickens in the process of fattening for meat production and breeder hens, so it is estimated that there will be a shortage, in about 20 days or so, of baby chicks.

john samuel

There will be a shortage of baby chicks in about 20 days.