Avian flu in my state!!!!😫😓😓

[Chickenlover0810]

I live in southern Michigan near grand rapids and there was an avian flu case in Kalamazoo! I’m very woried for my flock. Is there anything I can do to help keep my girls healthy????

 

[Chicks in VA]

how many do you have

 

[NatJ]

I live in southern Michigan near grand rapids and there was an avian flu case in Kalamazoo! I’m very woried for my flock. Is there anything I can do to help keep my girls healthy????

The only way to keep them healthy is to make sure they are not exposed.

Avian influenza is being found in wild birds and some domestic ones. So don't let your flock have contact with any other birds, domestic or wild.

No contact with other domestic birds is fairly simple (don't bring home any new ones, don't take your birds anywhere, and don't wear the same clothes to visit other birds and then tend your own flock.)

No contact with wild birds is a bit harder to arrange, but probably more important. You should probably not allow any free ranging, and keep them in a coop/run with roof (to keep out birds and their droppings), and with fence wire too small for wild birds to enter.

Some people are also using dedicated shoes that only go in the chicken pen and nowhere else.

Obviously, do not put a bird feeder in or near your coop & run!

If chickens get avian influenza, they tend to die quite quickly (24-48 hours).
But ducks can carry it and spread it while apparently staying healthy.
And various other species can go one way or the other.

The information I just listed is what I've picked up while working my way through a long thread on the subject. Here's a link to a fairly recent post in that thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-south-carolina.1507893/page-53#post-25458007

 

[Chicks in VA]

that very smart and informitive

 

[Husker Chick]

Great information here from Backyard Poultry Magazine:

Bird Flu 2022: What You Should Know​

Infected wild waterfowl rarely show avian flu symptoms.​