USDA, not Biden, ordered killing of infected chickens
Let me start by simply pointing out that President Joe Biden never ordered the killing of over 150 million egg-laying chickens.
It was the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) that directed the culling of
chickens infected by the avian flu (influenza) virus.
Most infected chickens will die from HPAI
The avian flu currently ravaging chicken populations in the United States has been labelled as
Highly-Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) of the
Influenza A H5N1 type, and is both highly-infectious and extremely deadly to birds like chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ducks, and geese.
HPAI is rapidly fatal for poultry, with chickens experiencing respiratory distress and extreme diarrhoea, followed rapidly by death. As the CDC
points out,
90% to 100% of infected chickens will die from this deadly bird flu virus – usually within 48 hours.
According to the USDA, the H5N1 virus surged in November and December 2024, killing 17.2 million egg-laying hens – half of the year’s total deaths attributed to the bird flu. Even if USDA (or Biden) did not order the mass killings,
most (if not all) of those infected chickens will die anyway.
Culling helps to limit spread of bird flu
As the American Farm Bureau Federation explained, such mass killings are required by the USDA to contain the spread of the deadly and highly-infectious virus. Culling the entire flock at an affected farm will help
limit or block the spread of the virus to other farms.
In fact, “letting nature takes its course” will likely allow the highly-pathogenic avian influenza to
spread to many more farms, and
kill even more chickens. Not only would eggs cost even more, so will chicken and chicken meat products.
In short – there is nothing “
insane” about culling chicken flocks infected with Highly-Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).