Bird flu's grisly question: How to kill millions of poultry

The spread of a bird flu in the U.S. that is deadly to poultry raises the grisly question of how farms manage to quickly kill and dispose of millions of chickens and turkeys.

It's a chore that farms across the country are increasingly facing as the number of poultry killed in the past two months has climbed to more than 24 million, with outbreaks reported nearly every day. Some farms have had to kill more than 5 million chickens at a single site with a goal of destroying the birds within 24 hours to limit the spread of the disease and prevent animals from suffering.

"The faster we can get on site and depopulate the birds that remain on site, the better," Minnesota State Veterinarian Beth Thompson said.