Half of free-range turkeys produced for Christmas have died, warns poultry executive

Consumers have been warned of a shortage of British free range turkeys this Christmas with half already dead due to bird flu.Half of the free range turkeys produced for Christmas in the UK have already been killed in the bird flu epidemic, British Poultry Council chief executive Richard Griffiths told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.Mr Griffiths said: “The usual amount of free range birds grown for Christmas is around 1.2 to 1.3 million. We have seen around 600,000 of those free range birds being directly affected.”