Cappoquin Chickens, which employs 150 full-time and 100 seasonal workers, is one of the largest employers in the west Waterford area.

It is understood that the company has gone into liquidation, says RTE News.

Cappoquin Chickens have been on the market for nearly 50 years, run by generations of the O'Connor family from Cappoquin.

Along with employees from west Waterford and east Cork, the company has cold storage depots in Dublin, Galway and Limerick.

Forty chicken growers and ten egg suppliers are dependent on the company's survival.

Earlier this summer, the High Court appointed an interim examiner after being told that the company had sustained losses over the last four years due to higher feed costs, cheaper imports from South America and Asia and the outbreak of avian flu.

According to RTE News, a company statement showed a deficit of €7million if the company were wound up.

A liquidator has now been appointed and the company will be put up for sale.

It is believed that if an investor is not found in two to three weeks, the future of the company is bleak.

A series of meetings between the receiver and union representatives will take place today and workers, their families and farmers are organising a rally at the factory later today.