Sari P. Setiogi and Multa Fidrus, Jakarta/Tangerang – After millions of chickens have been killed due to bird flu and other diseases over the past several months, poultry farmers are now anticipating greater losses caused by the decline in demand for Indonesian poultry products.

Demands for chicken meat have dropped significantly following reports that the bird flu now attacking Indonesia and many other countries in the region is the H5N1 variant, which can also kill humans.

"In Jakarta alone, demand for chicken meat has dropped by up to 40 percent," Eko Sandjojo, a director of poultry company PT Sierad Produce Tbk., Eko Sandjojo, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday during a national seminar on the disease.

The price for newly born, or day-old chicks, has also dropped to Rp 500 (5.8 US cents) from Rp 1,500 prior to the outbreak of the disease. "So from every DOC, we lose Rp 1,000," he said.

With national sales averaging 80 million DOC per month, the industry is now losing some Rp 80 billion each month from DOC sales alone, according to Eko.

"Sierad, with an output of 10 million DOC per month, is losing some Rp 8 billion a month," he said.

Normally, the firm sells the DOCs to affiliated farmers and buys back the poultry after being raised by the farmers. Now, because of the very low price, rather than selling the DOC, the firm asks affiliated farmers to raise the chickens for a fee and takes them back later to be processed.

"If the price is still bad, we'll keep the meat in our cold storage," said Eko.

Separately, director of animal health at the Ministry of Agriculture Tri Satya Putri Naipospos H. said that today there were some 5.5 million broiler chickens on the market that remained unsold.

"Normally, a broiler chicken is ready for sale after reaching the age of five weeks. As demand is declining, farmers now have no choice but to keep their chickens around and feed them for a longer period," she said.

Eko said that small farmers would suffer the most from the current crisis, while giant companies would still survive for the next four or five months.

"Once they fail, it will be difficult for small farmers to revive their businesses. We are worried that once consumer demand is back to normal, only a few farmers will want to resume their business. This will result in a shortage of supply and we'll have to import more chicken," he said.

A chicken farmer from Blitar, East Java, Hidayaturrahman, confirmed that in order to cope with the decline in demand for chicken meat, farmers were forced to keep their broiler chickens longer than usual. In order to cut costs, farmers provide the poultry with low-quality feed to slow down their growth.

According to Hidayaturrahman, in order to produce a kilogram of broiler chicken, a farmer has an average of Rp 6,800 in costs, including the costs for DOC and feed.

"How can we survive with a broiler chicken now selling for Rp 3,000 per kilogram?" he said.

Separately, secretary general of the Ministry of Agriculture, Memed Gunawan, told the Post on Thursday that as long as chicken meat was well-cooked, the public do not need to worry about getting bird flu.

However, he admitted that public confidence in eating chicken was not easily restored given the deep psychological impact of reports on the bird flu.

"In order to help the poultry industry recover, the central government is now cooperating with regional governments in fighting the disease and in holding public campaigns that eating chicken meat is safe," he said.

Dozens of poultry breeders in Tangerang regency have requested that the regency administration supply them with vaccines to prevent bird flu from spreading to the currently healthy chickens.

"We need proper vaccines soon to fight against bird flu. The administration has not even given us proper instructions to prevent more loses in our business as of now," Heri Santoso, a poultry breeder in Legok district said on Tuesday. Heri said that 80 percent of chickens in the district had been killed by the scourge.

Separately, regent Ismet Iskandar called on poultry breeders not to panic while dismissing allegations that 80 percent of the chickens in the regency had been killed by bird flu.

"I know that a lot of poultry has been killed but it is not because of bird flu," he claimed, adding that the regency would distribute the "Legok Vaccine" brand to poultry breeders next week in a grand, public ceremony.

"During the ceremony to distribute the vaccine, we will also announce that Tangerang is safe from bird flu," he declared.