Atleast 900 hens have died at a poultry farm in Murumba village in Parbhani district of Maharashtra, a senior official said on Saturday. The carcasses have been sent for investigation to identify the exact cause of the death, said Parbhani district collector Deepak Mulgikar.
"900 hens have died in two consecutive days in Murumba village in the Marathwada region. We have taken the samples of the dead birds for investigation," he said.
The poultry farm where the hens died is run by a Self Help Group (SHG).
"This poultry farm has some 8,000 birds. 900 birds have died over two days. No death of birds was reported in the last 24 hours," he said.
The collector said, prima facie, the death of hens could be related to nutrition, adding that the test results are awaited.
Till now Maharashtra has not reported any cases of bird flu or avian influenza.