Hundreds of poultry workers in Hong Kong have demonstrated against the government's mass slaughter of chickens intended to stop the spread of so-called bird flu.

Carrying banners with the words ''No chickens, no income'', they demanded larger and quicker compensation for losing their livelihood.

Several thousand workers in the poultry industry are now out of work as a result of the cull of 1.5 million chickens and other birds.

Authorities have offered payments of $4 US for each bird lost in the mass slaughter.

The BBC's Jill McGivering reports on the protest from Hong Kong (1'19")

But farmers want more. Many are also calling for interest-free loans from the government to see them through the coming weeks of unemployment.

The avian virus was detected in humans only in the past year and there is no vaccine against it.

So far, four people have died from the disease and 16 others have contracted it.

Vendors protest outside markets

The operation to cull the birds was supposed to take a day, but one week later it is still not complete.

Scientists are now testing samples taken from other poultry such as ducks and geese, and from rats.

If any of the poultry samples contain the flu virus, the government is likely to extend the slaughter to all live poultry. That would mean killing about a million more birds.

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