Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the number of birds that have been culled as a result of avian flu by species since 2020.

To prevent further spread of avian influenza birds on an infected premises are humanely culled. During the current highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak (26 October 2021 to 10 January 2023) 7.48 million birds have died or been culled for avian influenza disease control purposes including 4.59 million chickens, 1.79 million turkeys, 980 thousand ducks, 48 thousand geese, 31 thousand quail, 35 thousand gamebirds and 7 thousand other captive birds.