Shoppers looking for a free-range turkey for Christmas better have one booked, or they could miss out, according to Robert Thompson, poultry committee chair of NFU Scotland.

Rampant bird flu amongst free range turkey units had left between 30 to 35% of birds culled and around 10% of intensively reared birds also dispatched. “Put it this way, there isn’t going to be an over supply at Christmas,” said Mr Thompson. “It is not just turkeys but ducks too which will be short. If you have not organised a bird, you might now struggle.”

Scotland does not have any intensive turkey production but there are a number of artisan free range producers which Mr Thompson believed had housed their birds weeks ago. And most of them will have already sold the bulk of their turkeys ahead of processing.

This past Monday, Northern Ireland issued a housing order for poultry to reduce the spread of avian influenza which is has been followed by Wales on Friday. However, Scotland, at the time of printing, remains the only part of the UK which has not told poultry farmers to put their birds inside.

Speaking on Wednesday at Holyrood’s rural affairs committee, Scotland’s chief vet, Sheila Voas, told MSPs that 224,000 birds had been slaughtered in Scotland so far, with eight premises affected, six of which were commercial – five were operated by the same Aberdeenshire owner.

However, the chief vet described the situation as 'nowhere near as bad' as elsewhere. England had slaughtered around 1.67m turkeys and 2m chickens, as well as ducks and geese, on 125 premises hit. Ms Voas said the number of birds slaughtered in Scotland consisted of around 1.5% of the total flock, compared to around 2.5-3% down south.

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She said that migratory patterns might account for the different geographical spread of the disease. There is also evidence the virus survived over the summer in England and the current outbreak is 'spillover'.

Ms Voas said the chance of the disease spreading northwards from England was slim because wild birds tended to move to escape cold snaps and it is unlikely England will be colder than Scotland. She added, however: "If it becomes very cold in Norway or Iceland, that may drive even more birds south to us and that would increase the risk."

News that no housing order had been mandated in Scotland was increasingly frustrating Mr Thompson. He said: “We are disappointed and the Scottish Government have let the poultry sector down extremely badly. We have had repeatedly been given excuses and been left out on a limb.

"Other countries are shutting down with fewer cases. We can't find the data for Scotland and we are working completely blind, so none of our vet advisors know where this is coming from. We think a housing order, as well as good biosecurity as part of package, is needed. The stakes are high – remember there is little or no insurance out there if you get bird flu.”