Many Midwest poultry farms are empty following the announcement that Pure Prairie Poultry would be shutting down.
It has left a poultry farmer unsure of what the future holds, but she says their now-empty poultry houses are a relief.
“Walking in there, in the open door, and the dust and feathers just fly to the other side of the barn because we were asked to turn the lights off so they didn’t rustle around too much. And when you do turn the lights on or open that door, and get that light, and then you got to walk through there, and they’re coming towards you. I mean, they were big. They’re like little turkeys. No, it’s nice. I like this a little bit better right now, just no birds. It just feels nice because they were in there for 60-some days, and it was too much,’ said Dawn Filla.
Dawn and her family joined several other Pure Prairie producers in giving their birds away to the public for a donation. She says she was surprised how many people showed up.
“Yeah, it was awesome. I mean, it was incredible. I mean, one week ago, these barns posted ‘free birds,’ and, yeah, seven days later, nobody has a bird. That’s amazing. And it felt good to help people. I didn’t care if they brought a donation in there or not. I just wanted to get up and see this in the morning, no birds in there because they were in there long enough.”
Pure Prairie Poultry’s filing for bankruptcy left more than a million broiler chickens at 14 Iowa farms without a place to go. The impact spread into states like Wisconsin where Dawn and her family raised birds as well. The company had previously received a $45 million loan through USDA’s Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program back in 2022.
