Raiders kill 800 ducklings and steal Prince of Wales's supply of free-range organic geese

Poultry rustlers have stolen an entire flock of organic free-range geese intended for the Prince of Wales's Duchy Originals brand.

The thieves herded 350 Wessex white geese into a lorry before setting fire to the barn in Devon where they had been kept, killing 800 ducklings.

The Prince has written to Rona and Nevil Amiss, the owners of the farm, expressing his dismay. Duchy Originals will now be unable to supply any organic geese to Sainsbury's this Christmas.

The birds were seven months old, weighed between 10lb (4.5kg) and 20lb and would have sold for about £50 each. The 800 ducklings were worth about £15 each. The total loss of poultry is about £30,000.

Mr and Mrs Amiss, who have been supplying Duchy Originals with geese for six years, said that they could not face keeping free-range poultry again. Mrs Amiss said that their young children watched in horror as the ducklings died. It was only after firefighters had put out the blaze that they realised that the geese were missing.