Ohio is one of the biggest egg-farming states in the nation, and a blaze at a commercial farm has made a bleak year even worse, reports the New York Times. The fire at New Madison Pullets in Darke County this week killed an estimated 200,000 chickens, per WHIOTV. "It was a total loss," said Chief Robert Cook of the New Madison Volunteer Fire Department. The outbreak of bird flu this year has hit poultry farms hard in Ohio and around the US, resulting in sky-high egg prices.
The farm struck by fire raised pullets—chicks that were to be transferred to other farms as egg-laying hens around 16 to 18 weeks of age. "This farm is one of Ohio's largest in regards to total pullets housed," a state agricultural official tells the Times. Related:
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more about bird flu.)