Chickens Raised for Closed Iowa Plant Euthanized

(A Radio Iowa story)

Due to the threat of litigation connected to the closure of a Charles City plant, over a million chickens from 14 northern Iowa farms have been euthanized. Pure Prairie Poultry had contracts with farmers and provided the chicks and their feed until the chickens were ready to be slaughtered and processed at the company’s plant in Charles City. The company abruptly filed for bankruptcy, closed the plant in early October and the Iowa Department of Agriculture took over the care and feeding of one-point-three million chickens. Court records show Tyson had agreed to buy, process and then sell those chickens, but attorneys for some of the Charles City plant’s creditors threatened to sue for part of Tyson’s profits — and Tyson recinded its offer. The Iowa Department of Agriculture was unable to find another buyer and, with ever increasing costs to feed and care for the chickens, officials decided to euthanize the birds.