Bird Flu Crisis: 'Kadaknath Chicken' Infection To Hit MS Dhoni's Farming Dream?

The farm owner, who had got an order for 2,000 chicks of Kadaknath breed from former India cricket captain M S Dhoni in December shared that the chickens could not be delivered due to bad weather

MS Dhoni. (FILE PIC/AFP)

MP Bird Flu: The outbreak of bird flu in Madhya Pradesh has now spread infecting the chickens of Kadaknath breed at a poultry farm and further hitting the chicken farming dreams of the former cricket captain MS Dhoni. As per the PTI report, chickens in a farm located at Rudipanda village under Thandla tehsil,  in Jhabua district have been found infected.  The National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) Bhopal has confirmed the presence of H5N1 virus in the samples of Kadaknath chickens. Deputy director Wilson Dawar said further action was being taken as per the Union government''s action plan for dealing with the outbreak. How does it impact MS Dhoni's farming dream? The infection in the black-winged and tan-blooded ''Kadaknath'' chicken has come as a jolt to the ambitions of former captain, who is keen on organic farming. Vinod Meda, the farm owner, who had got an order for 2,000 chicks of Kadaknath breed from former India cricket captain M S Dhoni in December has stated that the chickens could not be delivered due to bad weather. ''Kadaknath'' chicken is known for its high iron content and low cholesterol, and sells at a much higher price than other varieties. The farm had 550 full-grown chickens and over 2,800 chicks, and officials took all of them away for culling, Meda said. The birds will be culled and buried in a pit, said Agriculture Science Center head and K S Tomar, as per the report. Also popular as 'Kali Masi', the black chicken variety 'Kadaknath' is a unique chicken breed, mostly found in the tribal-dominated Jhabua district of MP’s Bheelanchal region. The Kadaknath chicken meat from Jhabua had also got GI tag in 2018 after a legal battle with Chhattisgarh. Bird-flu cases have been detected in Indore, Mandsaur, Agar, Neemuch, Dewas, Ujjain, Khandwa, Khargone, Guna, Shivpuri, Rajgarh, Shajapur, Vidisha, Bhopal, Hoshangabad, Ashoknagar, Datia and Barwani districts so far.