The Hindu

Some stalls in the city had no customers at all on Sunday
Chickens are supplied to Mangalore from farms in Puttur, Buntwal and Ullal
Mangalore consumes about 1.5 lakhs chickens a day

Mangalore, Feb 20: The usual Sunday crowd at chicken shops was thin and some shops had no customers at all, owing to news about the outbreak of bird flu in the country.

The usually crowded market places wore a deserted look on Sunday morning. Chicken shop owners, some of whom had already "prepared" the birds for delivery, were beginning to wonder about the sudden drop in customers, when they heard about the cases of bird flu reported in the country.

Mangalore consumes about 1.5 lakhs chickens a day says Hamid, a wholesale dealer.

Birds from neighbouring districts are brought to the city in trucks every Friday Farms in Puttur, Buntwal, Ullal and Moodbidri supply chicken to Mangalore regularly.

Chicken stalls in Urva Market, Kadri and other places also witnessed a drastic drop in sales on Sunday morning.

The last time the bird flu alarm was raised, local chicken dealers organised a "chick fest" in the city where chicken dishes were sold at low prices.

But now, such ventures might not be enough to draw customers.

Recently, Vice-Chancellor of Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University R.N. Sreenivas Gowda had said that Indian poultry is immune to bird flu and that the West was looking to India to meeting their poultry demands.