Iowa to kill 52K more hens and turkeys because of bird flu

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa agriculture officials announced Sunday that another 15,0000 chickens and 37,000 turkeys will have to be killed after bird flu spread to two more commercial flocks. Since the outbreak began a month ago, millions of fowl have been killed, many of them in Iowa, which is the nation’s leading egg producer. The latest cases were at a commercial turkey flock in Sac County and in a flock of commercial breeding chickens in Humboldt County. Because the virus is so infectious and deadly for commercial poultry, entire flocks are destroyed and composted on the farms when they are infected.