150,000 chickens perish as Ibaraki poultry farm goes up in flames

Thursday 27th August, 09:19 AM JST

IBARAKI —

Around 150,000 chickens perished after a fire erupted on a poultry farm in Bando City, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Wednesday afternoon and raged on into the evening, destroying three small buildings on the property by 6:30 p.m.

No people were injured, but the buildings that contained around 150,000 birds were razed.

Police said that the blaze continued into Thursday morning with more than 10 fire trucks on the scene.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 24 Total Comments Show All

Fadamor at 10:20 AM JST - 27th August

"Colonel" Harlan Sanders is shedding a tear up in heaven right now.

Here in Virginia and Maryland out on the penninsula, there are massive chicken farms that supply companies like Tyson. I can easily believe the buildings housing the chickens contained 40,000 each. Here's a photo of the inside one of the Maryland houses: http://encarta.msn.com/media461538418/MarylandChicken_Farm.html
Fadamor at 10:22 AM JST - 27th August

Never mind, that link won't work. JT removed some of the underscores, for some reason. (there was one after "media" and one after "Maryland"
Altria at 10:25 AM JST - 27th August

It sucks, but dying in a fire is only marginally worse than what they were going to be put through anyway.
Fadamor at 10:39 AM JST - 27th August

Slowly suffocating in a smoke-filled room would be infinitely more painful than a death rendered in the slaughterhouse.
Apsara at 10:52 AM JST - 27th August

I see it's now 150,000 chickens- the death toll is rising...
sf2k at 12:24 PM JST - 27th August

Odd to report the word "perish" when they were going to be eaten anyway.
aj2o1 at 02:14 PM JST - 27th August

burning to death is not funny, even for chickens.
Altria at 02:48 PM JST - 27th August

I hope they catch the basted who did this.
Mittsu at 05:10 PM JST - 27th August

I have heard that numbers of fatalities often inflated to claim more on the insureance policy.
sunny117 at 06:34 PM JST - 27th August

Painful death for those who otherwise too were ultimately meant to land between two slices of bread.

But from eco point of view, a big waste of food in these times.
Cicada at 09:22 PM JST - 27th August

Around 150,000 chickens perished after a fire erupted on a poultry farm... destroying three small buildings on the property

So 150,000 chickens were in "three small buildings"? No wonder they perished.
onewrldoneppl at 12:13 AM JST - 28th August

damn, it must've smelled almost as good as when the marijuana storehouse burned down in tokyo, a few months back. smile
Freddy5 at 12:56 PM JST - 28th August

50,000 chickens per building? What kind of conditions did they live and die in? Sounds awful.

Insurance fraud? - there may be a nugget of truth in that.
cleo at 01:19 PM JST - 28th August

50,000 chickens per building? What kind of conditions did they live and die in? Sounds awful.

If you demand cheap eggs and cheap meat, and happily munch on karaage and all the other delicacies the birds end up as, you're at least partly to blame for the profitability of these chicken factories.

Moderator: Stay on topic please.
societymike at 11:13 AM JST - 1st September

I for one am very appreciative of these chicken farms and so is my belly and wallet.