The USDA is accused of shorting a California quail producer $1.3 million after ordering its flock and other property destroyed due to a disease outbreak.

Wildenberg Farms near Oakdale, Calif., has filed a federal lawsuit claiming the agency only paid about $600,000 of the $1.9 million value of its lost birds, eggs and feed.

The company has raised high-value Japanese quail for the past decade, selling their eggs to grocery stores and wholesale buyers, as well as the meat from birds that have stopped laying, according to the complaint.

The quail eggs typically sell for about 10 cents apiece, while the birds themselves range in value from about $3.75 to $7 apiece when alive, or $1 per slaughtered carcass, the company said.

Despite consulting with an experienced poultry veterinarian and participating in a national poultry improvement plan, the farm tested positive for a “low pathogenic” strain of avian influenza in 2021, according to the lawsuit.

Unlike the “highly pathogenic” form of avian flu, which is strongly contagious and nearly 100% deadly, the infection discovered on the farm typically results in little or no symptoms, the complaint said.

Though the company advocated for continued quarantine and testing as its birds recovered, the USDA and California regulators insisted the entire flock be destroyed along with the eggs and feed, according to the lawsuit.

Over the farm’s “strenuous objections,” the government ordered the destruction of nearly 128,000 birds, 700,000 eggs and 47 tons of feed, the complaint said.

The company claims the quail were worth nearly $1.8 million while the eggs were worth about $70,000 and the feed another $40,000, but the federal government only paid the farm about $600,000, which didn’t include the feed value or the expenses involved in destroying the birds and eggs.

The lawsuit alleges the government’s payment didn’t represent the fair market value of the birds or other property because USDA incorrectly considered the farm a “hobby or backyard flock” and didn’t account for its higher-value quail species.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service did not respond to requests for comment.

According to the complaint, the USDA unconstitutionally took private property without just compensation and violated provisions of the Animal Health Protection Act that entitle farms to compensation.

The lawsuit seeks $1.3 million, which represents the difference between the government’s payment and the fair market value of the company’s property, as well as litigation and appraisal expenses.