Your Christmas turkey could be more expensive this year, here's why

British poultry farmers are warning of possible shortages this Christmas as new restrictions are introduced to help combat the country's largest ever bird flu outbreak.

Farmers have been reportedly leaving the industry amid uncertainty about bird flu and a tightening of regulations. In addition, a third of farmers surveyed by the trade body the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) reported they had reduced the number of hens in their flock because egg prices meant costs were not sustainable, as per The Guardian.

Christmas turkey

Turkey farmers have warned of a shortage as regulations stipulate all poultry and captive birds in England must be kept indoors from 7 November to fight avian flu.

Farmer Tom Copas has been housing his 60,000 free-range turkeys on his farm in Cookham, Berkshire, to help shield them from bird flu, the BBC reports:

It's terrifying right now. Our entire business depends on the Christmas market. If we were to get bird flu we would lose everything

He went on to add that supermarkets can expect shortages and as a result the price of free range turkeys is likely to rise:

It's expected that the supermarkets will be at least 20% short, if not more, of their Christmas turkeys

Avian flu

In total, more than 210 cases of bird flu have been confirmed since October 2021, with about 80 confirmed cases in England this month. Roughly 5.5 million birds have now died or been culled since then and that includes 2.3 million birds just in October alone, the BBC reports.

Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss commented on the outbreak:

We are now facing this year, the largest ever outbreak of bird flu and are seeing rapid escalation in the number of cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across England

The disease can circulate naturally in wild birds and this can then contaminate captive birds and poultry.

In an effort to help farmers, measures introduced last week allow farmers to kill and freeze turkey, geese and ducks and sell them as fresh closer to Christmas. Additionally compensation will now be given to the farmers at the start of any cull of birds, not at the end to help with any potential cash flow issues.

Sources used:

- The Guardian: 'Warning of possible egg shortage as UK farmers struggle with avian flu'

- BBC: 'Christmas turkey fears as England bird flu rules widened'