There is a shortage of eggs in markets across the country. Poultry farmers say egg production has gone down like never before. And the cause, according to the farmers, is due to the suspected contaminated bird feeds that were in the market a few months ago. Thousands of birds started dying in November and thousands more fell sick after they were fed the suspected contaminated feeds.
Poultry farmers in Tsirang, one of the country’s highest egg producing districts, say it has been more than a month that egg production has declined to almost zero. They say most of their birds have not laid any eggs since the recent feed incident which left most of the birds either dead or seriously ill.
“Before the incident, I used to collect six cartons of eggs daily from 1,500 birds, but these days I get only two to three trays of eggs in a day,” said Sari Maya, a poultry farmer from Gosarling Gewog. “Many people are calling me asking for eggs but I haven’t been able to supply any eggs so far.”
In Damphu town, almost all shops do not have eggs to sell.
“Of late we have been selling eggs at Nu 500 with a profit of just Nu 20. But today there aren’t any shops in Damphu town selling eggs,” said Singye Wangchuk, a vegetable vendor.
“These days, forget about selling eggs to customers, I don’t get eggs for myself,” said Dargo.
The story is no different in other districts as well. In the capital city, the disrupted egg supply chain has also escalated egg prices in the market.
“It has been two weeks that we didn’t receive any eggs from our regular suppliers. Even if we get some, the price is very high,” said Sonam Choden, who runs a shop at the Centenary Farmers Market. “A cartoon of egg costs Nu 3500 today. And we get Nu 50 as profit only if we can sell eggs at Nu 500 for a tray.” She added many people come searching for eggs but end up going back disappointed.
“Usually we get a tray of eggs at around Nu 400 but now it increased to Nu 500,” said Kencho Dorji, a Thimphu resident.
With bleak signs of birds regaining their health, it seems the problem will remain for some time. According to the Department of Livestock, over 54,000 birds died due to the suspected contaminated feeds. The feeds were produced by the Karma Feeds Company. Feed samples have been sent outside the country for lab testing and the results are being awaited. Meanwhile, the company started giving out monetary compensation to affected farmers.
Pema Tshewang and Karma Wangdi
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
