A farmer has told of his devastation at being forced to cull his entire flock of 10,000 turkeys destined for UK Christmas dinner tables amid the worst-ever bird flu outbreak. Steve Childerhouse, 51, who rears birds on his 35-acre farm, said producers had been “absolutely hammered” by the UK’s worst-ever outbreak of avian flu this year.
And he told families they may struggle to get hold of turkeys and geese this winter as the usual stock levels are “just not going to be there”. He said: “We are a traditional fresh farm, but even the big people are getting absolutely hammered by this. It’s affecting the whole industry.
“We supply a lot of butchers and farm shops, and we’ve told them we haven’t got any. They’re not selling any turkeys or geese this Christmas as they can’t get them. It’s going to have a massive impact on the Christmas market because they’re just not going to be there.”
