Abbotsford poultry farmer forced to leave thousands of chickens to die in the floods

Editor’s note: This article contains some disturbing details and may be upsetting to some readers.

The owner of a poultry farm in Abbotsford is left at a loss, both emotionally and financially, after he was forced to abandon tens of thousands of chickens to die in the flood waters.

On Tuesday morning, after days of heavy rain, Sumas Prairie was ordered to evacuate. More than 1,000 people were told to make for safer ground. Officials told farmers to leave their animals behind, as there was no way of rescuing the thousands of cows, horses, and chickens.

Shortly after, there were reports of dead cows floating in the flood waters and many worried about the chance of survival for other animals left behind.

One of the farmers spoke about the heartbreaking experience with CityNews.

Related Video: Farmers rescue cattle from flooding in Abbotsford

“It’s the hardest thing to see. Like my son said, ‘It’s one thing when we euthanize a bird, and we are trained to do that humanely, but to stand there and watch every one of them slowly perishing?’ They get cold, the water’s cold, they give up and lie down and die. My son was just about crying, it was that devastating,” the farmer told CityNews.

He wanted to remain anonymous as he spoke about the moment they knew they couldn’t fight the flood any longer.

He says they tried everything within their power to save the chickens, even hiring a helicopter to bring eight people to help. They were able to get into the barns by flying over the flood-ravaged area, but in the end the water was rising too fast and too high to stay long enough to stop the destruction.

“For safety reasons, we abandoned the effort. We had to,” the farmer said.

He watched firsthand as many of them perished.

Even if they didn’t drown, the area is without heat and the electricity remains shut off.

“No power: They will just suffocate and freeze.”

For everyone, the next few days are critical to saving any surviving animals. There is also no fresh water in the area, as the water system was turned off, something that the minister of agriculture says remains a priority to try and save any animal still alive.

Millions in financial losses

His farm is organic, and therefore there are fewer birds in the barns than a conventional poultry farm, and he believes his losses will be less than that of other farmers as a result. His loss alone is estimated at more than $4 million, likely higher as most of the feed will be rotted and need to be thrown away.

He says they were also told that their insurance company does not cover floods.

No matter what, he expects there will be a significant gap in the poultry market for months.

“We’ve had a tough year just in general,” he said, adding “a lot of farmers are going to take a very serious hit.”

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He, like everyone, was hopeful the Fraser River levels would drop overnight and the City of Abbotsford could open the flood gates and offer some hope for recovery. But on Thursday morning, the mayor said the water levels continue to fluctuate.

It’s unclear when the farmers will be allowed to safely return to see what remains of the area.

Of farmers taking extraordinary measures to try to save their animals, "We're not encouraging that but we understand that" @lanapopham says (and tragically some had to abandon the atempt as the road essentially washed out below them)#bcpoli @CityNewsVAN

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) November 17, 2021

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham says thousands of animals have died and they’re rushing to develop routes for veterinarians to get access to those animals that survived as quickly as possible.

Calling it an “animal welfare issue,” she says many of the animals will likely need to be euthanized.

“There are also animals who have survived that are going to be critical need for food in the next 24 hours. We knew we’d have a window of about three to four days in our poultry sector and dairy sector, but those stores are running out now,” Popham said Wednesday.

She says they are making contact with feed mills across the country to try and access food that is going to be needed in order to keep the animals healthy.

These cowboys have replaced horses with jet skis to move cows through the flood water to dry land in the Fraser Valley. Thousands of other animals did not make it, B.C.’s agriculture minister said this afternoon. #BCFlood https://t.co/rlmgcwY7jj

— Claire Fenton (@Ceeceefenton) November 17, 2021

As her voice shook, Popham said she was able to see the inside of barns through video calls with farmers.

“Some of them are in their barns, some of their barns are flooded, and you can see the animals that are deceased and it’s heartbreaking. This is an especially difficult time for our livestock producers.”

Those affected by this weeks' storm can apply for distaster financial assistance *if unable to obtain insurance to cover disaster-related losses* but not if insurance was "reasonably and readily avaialble".#bcpoli #BCStorm @CityNewsVAN pic.twitter.com/GKDmpOERaP

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) November 18, 2021

The province has promised disaster relief funds are available for farmers and anyone impacted by the floods.