The cull trade – the sale of live birds from poultry farms – recovered in the fourth quarter of last year after falling back slightly due to bird-flu outbreaks earlier in the year.
Compiled by Michael Acott
The cull trade is a feature of the South African poultry industry, involving chickens intended for the informal market. Older birds are sold live off farms to traders who distribute them in townships across the country.
The trade has been regulated since 2017 to minimise the risk of spreading bird flu. Only chickens certified as healthy may be moved.
Cull trade sales exceeded 1.3 million chickens in the first quarter but, after bird-flu outbreaks in three provinces, dropped to just over a million birds in the third quarter. With no outbreaks in the final quarter of last year, cull sales revived to the 1.3 million seen at the start of the year.
This article first appeared in Poultry Bulletin (Issue 31) April/May 2026 and is republished with permission. Click the cover below for the full edition.
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