Northern Ireland producers quell Christmas turkey shortage fears

Producers say there will be no shortage of Christmas turkeys in Northern Ireland

While farmers and butchers in England have warned about a potential shortage of turkeys this Christmas, producers in Northern Ireland have ruled out any problem.

The shortages in Great Britain are being caused by the worst ever outbreak of bird flu seen in these islands.

It began in October 2021. Since autumn 2022, hundreds of thousands more birds have had to be culled across England.

That included about half of the free-range turkey Christmas flock.

• Christmas turkey fears in England

• Birds to be kept indoors amid Avian flu fears

• Anti-bird flu measures introduced in Fermanagh

English poultry producers told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday 29 November that there would be "a big, big shortage of free range turkeys" this year, although they said the supplies of other birds are not affected.

In Northern Ireland, there has not been an outbreak of the virus in a commercial setting in almost a year.

There has been an increase in avian flu cases across the UK and Republic of Ireland in recent months

The last confirmed case was in captive birds at a County Down sanctuary in September, although the disease has been confirmed throughout the summer in wild birds across Northern Ireland.

The last cull was carried out on a backyard hobby flock in Enniskillen in February 2022.

As in England and the Republic of Ireland, poultry in Northern Ireland must now be kept indoors to try to prevent any spread of the disease.

A housing order was introduced on Monday 28 November. The situation is being monitored in Wales and Scotland.

Biosecurity rules have also been tightened as part of an effort to protect an industry that is worth almost £500m to the Northern Ireland economy.

There is currently a surveillance zone in place around a commercial turkey farm in County Monaghan which extends into County Fermanagh.

At his busy butcher's shop in Ballynure, County Antrim, John Jackson said Christmas orders are starting to mount up.

"They're just coming in at a nice speed now. On 1 December, everybody just thinks about it then.

Butcher John Jackson said orders were mounting up

"We've about 1,000 nearly ordered at the moment, so we've another 500 to go.

"They should come in within the next three weeks.

"It just runs same in, same out, every year, at the same speed and in the same pattern, so we know what to expect. It's all good."

He said that while there was no concern about availability, people should still get their turkeys ordered early.

"I do keep a lot of turkeys spare, I don't like to disappoint anybody," he said.

"But I don't have a few hundred spare, I've a few dozen spare.

"But all should be good."