1.3 million chickens killed in Iowa due to threat of lawsuits

Pure Prairie Poultry had no money to feed its broilers

According to court documents, state agriculture officials recently killed about 1.3 million broiler chickens because they could not find a buyer for them.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Management took the birds under his wing — housed on 13 farms in northwest Iowa — after their owner, Minnesota-based Pure Prairie Poultry, said a month ago they couldn’t afford to feed them.

The company filed for bankruptcy last month, citing debts worth between $100 million and $500 million, federal court records show. The company had suffered losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars a week and was unable to get a loan to stay afloat.

The company has a chicken processing facility in Charles City, which it reopened with the help of a $7 million federal grant and a $39 million loan backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

That aid was announced nearly two years ago and was expected to create about 400 jobs. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony at the location in July.

But Pure Prairie Poultry closed the facility and laid off its employees on Oct. 2, the state Agriculture Department said. That same day, a judge granted the department’s emergency request to take over the animals.

The department provided food, monitored the health of the birds and hired someone to take care of their general management. The company also unsuccessfully sought a buyer for the birds — and even considered giving them away for free — but those efforts were blocked by the threat of a lawsuit.

Tyson Foods emerged as the only poultry processor willing to buy the birds, court records show. The intention was to process the chickens on Saturdays – when the birds are not usually slaughtered – for a period of five to six weeks. The company agreed to pay 50 cents per bird.

But some of Pure Prairie Poultry’s creditors indicated they could seek a share of Tyson’s profits from the birds in court, and Tyson withdrew its offer.

With no buyer, the agriculture department asked a judge to allow the chickens to be “depopulated.”

“While the Department believes that depopulation should always be a last resort, it provides a definitive solution to this unfortunate circumstance, limits ever-increasing costs to Iowa taxpayers and prevents any potential animal welfare issues,” the Department said Friday.

The department did not specify what method it used to kill the chickens, but it happened over the course of about a week and ended on Friday. It had estimated it would spend at least $1.5 million to feed and house the birds and then cull the flocks.

Notes: (319) 368-8541; [email protected]