The Iowa Department of Agriculture destroyed about 1.3 million chickens it had assumed care for earlier this month after failing in efforts to find a buyer for the birds, the state said Friday.
The department took charge of the birds under an emergency court order after Pure Prairie Poultry filed for bankruptcy in late September, saying it could no longer buy feed for the chickens, which had been destined for the company’s Charles City processing plant.
On Friday, the state said a district court judge had granted it permission to euthanize the birds, the last of which were destroyed this week. Thirteen farmers, mostly located in northwest Iowa’s Sioux County, had been tending the chickens under contract.
Minnesota-based Pure Prairie Poultry closed the Charles City plant this month, leaving 80 workers without jobs, according to the Charles City Press .
Court documents show Iowa agriculture officials, seeking buyers for the birds, reached a tentative agreement with Tyson Foods, which agreed to buy the broiler chickens for 50 cents each. But that deal ran into a roadblock after the state notified Pure Prairie Poultry’s creditors of its plans.