Seven thousand Russian chickens poisoned by mycotoxins

Local media Amur Info reported that products from this poultry producer disappeared from markets shelves. Representatives of Rosselkhoznadzor, which receive monthly reports from the company, believe that the chicken deaths were brought about by poor-quality feed.

“At the end of the year the poultry received stale feed. Quite simply, we saw there a Penicillium – fungi that produced mycotoxins, which are very dangerous for both animals and humans alike. This is a virulent poison,” explained Olga Atavina, deputy chief of management of Rosselkhoznadzor for the Zabaikalye Territory and Amur Oblast. “Perhaps these mycotoxins undermined the chicken immune system,” she added.

According to experts, the feed killed about 7,000 of the enterprises’ poultry. But the meat of the sick animals did not hit the store shelves, the officials added. However, the owners of the stricken poultry farms denied that the chickens died due to mycotoxin poisoning. According to them the underlying cause could be the new equipment installed at a chicken farm. According to the representatives of the enterprise the decrease of the production rate resulted from the recent reconstruction of the maternity area on the farm.