Millions of chickens were killed and hundreds of employees laid off when bird flu hit Herbruck’s

IONIA COUNTY – An estimated 400 employees have been laid off from Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch in Ionia County following an outbreak of bird flu.

Herbruck’s filed a WARN notice with the state on Wednesday, May 15. The notice said Herbruck’s will lay off employees at five locations in Saranac and Lake Odessa.

HPAI, a highly contagious bird flu, was discovered at Herbruck’s Green Meadow Organics in April. HPAI can be spread in a variety of ways, including from flock to flock, through contact with infected poultry, through equipment, and through the clothing and shoes of caretakers.

“Given ongoing efforts to address the detection of (HPAI) with state and federal regulators, Herbruck’s has made the difficult decision to implement layoffs at the affected facilities where no work is available,” wrote Herbruck CEO Greg Herbruck , in a statement. “We expect this to be largely temporary in nature as we plan to make many new hires as we work to repopulate our facilities and resume egg production as safely and quickly as possible.”