Thousands of Wisconsin Chickens Given Away After Meat Processor Bankruptcy

In a surprising turn of events, nearly 200,000 chickens raised for meat in Wisconsin have been given away after a Minnesota-based meat processing company, Pure Prairie Poultry, went bankrupt.

The company, which closed its processing plant in late September, left Wisconsin farmers without a place to send their broiler chickens, leaving many in financial limbo.

Broiler chickens, which are typically raised for eight to ten weeks, were left without feed and proper care as the processing company failed to pay for transportation and feed costs.

Breanna Patz, a poultry student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, took action by coordinating the pickup of the birds, ensuring they were distributed to people who could either process them for meat or raise them.

“The farmers were just kind of stuck there in limbo, and the situation got worse,” Patz explained. Some farmers were forced to pay for feed out of their own pockets, while others couldn’t afford to do so, leaving the birds without food for days.

While Iowa and Minnesota state departments of agriculture stepped in to help struggling farmers, Wisconsin did not offer similar support due to a lack of an immediate health threat.

A spokesperson for Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture stated they were exploring options but were constrained by state regulations.

Patz’s efforts to connect farmers with those willing to take the chickens have helped reduce the number of birds left on farms. As Patz noted, “These farmers care so much for these birds… It’s reached the point where it’s inhumane to keep them any longer.”

Farmers are now left hoping for a more permanent solution to prevent such crises in the future.

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