State to rescue of Iowa chickens facing starvation

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa Agriculture Department assumed control of 1.3 million chickens at 14 Iowa farms because the operator, Pure Prairie Poultry of Fairfax, Minnesota, is out of money and cannot afford to buy feed. The company operates a processing plant in Charles City, 40 miles south of the Minnesota border. The company asked the state agency to take over and save the chickens;