200 Poultry Houses Destroyed in Alabama

May 2, 2011

Alabama’s agriculture commissioner says tornadoes and storms caused multi-million-dollar damage to the poultry industry in north Alabama.

Commissioner John McMillan says about 200 poultry houses were destroyed and another 180 damaged. A standard poultry house can hold about 20,000 chickens.

McMillan said the loss of drinking water and power outages could worsen the situation. He said field inspectors from the state Department of Agriculture and Industries are assisting state emergency management efforts.