A Kyoto Prefecture farm where more than 100,000 chickens have died since last week following an outbreak of avian flu began slaughtering its remaining birds Sunday, immediately after it was ordered to do so by the prefectural government.
It is expected to take several days for Funai Nojo farm in Tamba, run by Asada Nosan based in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, to complete the slaughter involving tens of thousands of chickens.
The Kyoto Prefectural Government said an additional 65,000 chickens died at the farm on Saturday and Sunday.
In the morning, prefectural government officials visited the farm and handed Asada Nosan President Hideaki Asada the order signed by Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada under the livestock infection prevention law.
Wearing protective suits, about 40 farm employees and prefectural officials then started the slaughter, placing five chickens into bags and filling them with carbon dioxide.
The Kyoto Prefectural Government plans to bury the bags, but the timing and location have yet to be decided.
Asada Nosan is Japan's 24th-largest chicken farm operator in terms of sales.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has confirmed that samples sent from the farm were infected with a highly contagious strain of avian flu.
It is the third location in Japan hit by bird flu this year. In a related development, the Environment Ministry said it was sending two staff members Monday to Kyoto Prefecture to inspect habitats and conditions of virus-carrying migratory birds and other wild fowl.