FDA Confirms My Suspicion About Turkey Deaths

[Tunastopper]

I thought I would update. Last July, twenty of my turkey breeders died suddenly. They where not sick. Only birds over one year old died. No young birds died. This was not like anything I had seen before. I noticed some of the bags of feed had a darker color to it. I notified my feed store. They kind of blew me off but they did take a sample of the feed from me and notified the manufacture. The Manufacture blew me off too. One month went by. I was told the feed store the food looked fine. They would not even call me. I knew it was not fine. I found on line a way to report the food to the FDA. They came out the next day. Collected samples from the feed store and me. They even found other bags of a different lot number that also had the dark feed. The test just came back both samples where positive for a antibiotic that is fatal to adult turkeys. It is also fatal to other game birds, horses, ect. The turkey game bird feed was not labeled with this antibiotic. In fact it should not have been medicated at all. This company was already under FDA warning for this same type of problem just weeks before my turkeys deaths. I don't know much else. They are mailing me the report and picking up the dead turkeys.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

WOW - just....WOW.

I'm so sorry you had to lose birds for the FDA to make a move on this manufacturer...are you able to post brand, etc, so others won't buy it, or is it a no-no right now until things get cleared up??

 

[A.T. Hagan]

For twenty breeder turkeys it might be worth speaking with an attorney once you get the report and hear back from the FDA after they've analyzed your birds.

At the least the feed company should reimburse you for the cost of your birds.

 

[beerman]

Get a lawyer and sue the snot out of em.

 

[ShadyHoller]

That's horrible. When and if you are able to release the name of the feed company, I think we'd all be anxious to know. Also, was the feed store that blew you off a chain outfit, or was it independent?

Regarding lawyers: you probably won't be able to hire one for what the loss of your turkeys was worth to you. At $200 per hour, you'll get buried by attorney's fees before you get anything done, and, for the loss of a couple dozen turkeys, you probably won't be able to find an attorney to take the case on contingency. Even if you pursued punitive damages, which could greatly exceed the replacement cost of your turkeys, it would probably be hard to convince an attorney to take the case.

I'm not trying to be pessimistic here, just realistic. Honestly, if the feed mill was at fault for contaminating the feed, your best recourse might be to engage in some publicity to alert people to the risk of buying their product. That won't bring your turkeys back or put money in your pocket, but it might prevent someone else for experiencing the same tragedy,
and generating bad press for the feed mill reducing their customer base would make them feel it in terms of their bottom-line.

Out of curiosity, do you know the name of the toxic antibiotic? If it's toxic to poultry and horse, what is its primary use?

 

[Tunastopper]

I have wrote about the company in the past because my main goal is no animals or people die or get sick. This is our food chain and our food should be safe. The company goes by three names. Western Milling, Kruse and Universal Feed.


This is the FDA warning letter from last July. http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/ucm221127.htm

The antibiotic that killed most of my breeders is called monensin.

This is also about the Medication in the food. http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/08/fda-works-with-mill-to-get-medicated-feed-done-right/

 

[alicefelldown]

Quote:

Please seek independent counsel offline - you can find lawyers who will give you free advice and consultations. Do not assume that this is automatically a losing battle - there is no way you were the only one with contaminated feed and with a little digging you might be able to be a part of a class action suit.

You should also edit your threads and remove the names of the companies - you do not want to hurt any potential legal actions on your behalf. Same with going to the press - talk to a few (not just one!) lawyers/law offices first!!

Feel free to PM me if you would like help locating free legit legal advice.

 

[kla37]

Quote:
X2

 

[usschicago1]

What Brand of feed? Thats aweful

 

[ShadyHoller]

in response to Alicefelldown's post: those are good points, and have made me reconsider my jump to conclusion that any legal case would automatically be a loser. It might be worth making a few inquiries to see if someone wanted to take your case. If Alicefelldown knows of someone who would be interested in doing that, there's no harm in looking into it. Who knows, there might be a non-profit organization out there working on issues of food safety, who might take the case without charging a huge fee.

Speaking for myself, I personally dread the idea of having something like that happening to my birds, so I am deeply sympathetic. I did not want my previous post to come across as dismissive. That's an awful thing to have happen, and I firmly believe the people who are responsible for it should be held accountable. It's just that I've encountered so many people who were quick to assume that litigation was going to solve all their problems, and then they discovered that it only added to the disaster and made it more expensive.