The Poultry Breeders Association expects a shortage of fresh poultry after hundreds of thousands of birds have died at 25 breeding sites, some of which have been destroyed. However, the essential reason for the shortage is mainly due to a shortage of workers.
It should be noted that this is a continuation of the shortage, since during the holidays there were few slaughter days and the war broke out immediately after the holidays. In the poultry industry, it is claimed that there is no shortage of poultry and that even after the elimination of chicken coops near the Gaza Strip, there is a huge number of birds waiting to be sent to slaughterhouses. Two slaughterhouses near Sderot and Ashkelon are closed and the other slaughterhouses close the gap in slaughter that has been created. The amount of poultry in chicken coops covers any future consumption.
Poultry in the coop. The slaughterhouses will have difficulty functioning, photo: Etiel Zion
Moti Elkabetz, secretary of the Poultry Breeders Association, told Israel Hayom: "There is no shortage of poultry. There is a problem in terms of manpower in slaughter, and this is the significant factor. We produce 22 million birds a month. The number of broiler birds of various ages that have died as a result of power outages and non-entry of the mixture will be at the level of about half a million broilers, not all of them of marketing age."
According to Elkabetz, there are currently more than 1.5 million broilers waiting to be sent to slaughterhouses throughout the country. In addition, there are another 6.5 million birds whose slaughter date should be this week. The normal weekly consumption in the country does not exceed 5 million poultry per week and that too in preparation for the holidays. So in terms of broiler supply, there is no shortage of poultry.
Bird flu discovered in a turkey coop in Moshav Beit Halevi, Emek Hefer // Archive | Photo: Shmuel Buchris
The shortages that existed last week stemmed from the closure of slaughterhouses and the opening of some of them in the middle of the week on the one hand, and the panic created by the Home Front Command's announcement.
There is no shortage of chicken coops, there are more poultry than necessary. The quantity destroyed in the Gaza envelope is not a factor affecting the poultry shortage. The shortage is affected because there is not enough presence of workers in the slaughterhouses and, of course, of the transport.
In Kibbutz Alumim, for example, over 330,<> birds died. Some because a chicken coop was damaged, and some because they couldn't be fed. The birds that remained in the kibbutz unknown and died will be evacuated tomorrow. In Nir Yitzhak there are birds ready for slaughter, but there is no one to transport them because the area is closed. This is a negligible amount in a national calculation.
If a fighting front develops in the north of the country, it may affect production since some poultry factories are located in the north.
In the egg farm there is no problem in the meantime. As long as the northern façade is not too warm. If we are nevertheless dragged into a war in the north, there may be a problem in the egg industry since most of the growers are located on the Lebanese border. At the moment, they are working under threat and the farmers are not abandoning the place.
"We pray that things will be okay. Even in chicken, the gaps will narrow," Elkabetz said, adding: "The quantity there is not significant relative to the general industry. In relation to the economy and the economic damage to the kibbutzim, this is a significant blow because the fattening industry is a significant source of income in the envelope area."
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