Not sure whether there was an engineering fault at play here, but the price of eggs...

[JohnRBaker]

...just went up, again:

Tens Of Thousands Of Chickens Killed In Wright County Egg Farm Fire

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2022/06/01/wright-county-egg-farm-fire/

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[TugboatEng]

A drop in the bucket considering the 10's of millions of birds being called due to Avian flu right now.

Interesting to note that the method of culling is to seal ventilation and dial up the heat. Perhaps that triggered the fire?

 

[IRstuff]

Unfortunately, chickens were lost because of the fire. We are evaluating the extent of the damage – which appears to be confined to a single structure – as well as investigating the cause of the fire,” a Forsman Farms spokesperson said.

So, not trying to kill their birds

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[TugboatEng]

You think the farmers are going to tell the news media that they were trying to bake the chickens alive? I don't see anything in that quote that would exclude my speculation.

 

[cranky108]

I think it is more of the fact that overpopulation in any one area breeds dease. And then again, why haven't we developed any vacineens, if it is that big of a problem? Not worth the money, maybe.
Notice how they blame small producers. Could it be a political culling of the competition? (conspiracy theory I have heard).
Anyway there seems to be a problem (I have a source in the industry).
A fire in the hen house? Maybe someone just liked the sound of that.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Since I have no clue how this stuff works, I'd like to ask, can you have insurance against something like having to cull your flock due to disease? If not, can you have insurance to cover loses due to a fire?

It's like that story, not sure it's true, but I've heard it several times, that after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when business owners learned that their insurance didn't cover earthquakes but did cover damage due to fire, that suddenly fires broke out all over the city.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[cranky108]

I believe you can insure anything, for a price. But most insurance is overpriced, and any one who can afford to be self insured is better off doing so.
I know crop insurance is a thing, and covers hail, and other weather events.

There are a few insurance types that are only offered by the US government (like flood and volcano insurance), but will only cover the structure, and no contents.

Insurance will cut into the profit margin, and is likely not purchased in most cases.

Sort of like selling futures, you can lock in a better price now, but you have a risk.

 

[IRstuff]

There are livestock policies; couldn't find one specifically for chickens

https://heritage-agency.com/agribusiness-insurance/livestock-mortality-insurance/

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm