Poultry liability

Poultry liability refers to insurance coverage that protects poultry farm owners against legal claims for bodily injury or property damage caused by their birds, operations, or products. Poultry liability policies typically cover incidents such as disease transmission from chickens (e.g. salmonella outbreaks), injuries caused by aggressive roosters, and property damage from escaped flocks.

Insurers often require biosecurity protocols like footbaths and restricted visitor access as risk mitigation measures before issuing poultry liability coverage. Standard exclusions in poultry liability include intentional acts of harm and violations of animal welfare laws; for example, deliberate neglect leading to mass bird deaths is not covered, as detailed by YourInsurance.info.

Premiums for poultry liability policies depend on flock size, with average annual costs ranging from $1,200 for small farms (under 500 birds) to over $10,000 for large commercial producers (over 50,000 birds). Claims data show that most payouts result from neighbor disputes over odor or waste runoff–such cases accounted for 37% of all U.S.

Poultry liability claims filed in 2022 according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Some states mandate minimum levels of environmental protection coverage within poultry liability policies due to frequent water contamination lawsuits; Delaware and Maryland enforce requirements because their broiler industries generate high phosphorus runoff rates.

Major insurers offering dedicated poultry liability products include Nationwide Agribusiness and American Family Insurance; both companies underwrite tailored endorsements addressing avian influenza outbreaks among insured flocks.