HEADS UP AVIAN INFLUENZA ALERT

[chicknmania]

We have two ponds on our property and we have been diligent about chasing off any waterfowl that have stopped by including a couple of cranes. We do have a couple of really big recreation centers/lakes in the vicinity that boast a large waterfowl population but there is nothing we can do about that. Most of the fowl around us are back yard flocks like ours and the local Amish flocks which are everything from Guineas (I love driving down the road, cresting a hill and finding a huge flock of Guineas in the middle of the road)

to turkeys. I wonder if they would have any concept of AI or the symptoms as the local wild life conservation officer told us that they have dealt with instances where the Amish have had turkeys die off and just throw them in the nearest ditch without burying them spreading whatever they died from to wild turkeys.

Someone else said that about chasing the waterfowl away, but not sure if that makes any difference. They still poop and also poop flying over. I also heard or read somewhere (and this is weird) that it hasn't been found in any wild turkeys.

 

[microchick]

That's good to hear because we found a very dead wild turkey behind our house last spring. No idea what killed it but it didn't survive the winter.

 

[mg15]

Maybe a little treat for the lock down girls.

 

[mg15]

i came across this. Can't reveal much about who or where it's from, but here you go.

xxxxxxxxxxxx last week…we got to talking about the HPAIV and inspector told me that USDA will be doing randomized testing on backyard flocks – basically…they drive past your house and see you have chickens…they will knock on your door, pay you for what your flock is worth and take the birds…

At times I wonder how knowledgeable the inspector is…so I don’t know how much truth there is to this but figured I’d throw that tid-bit of info out to stir a pot…

So and here are MY questions. a) I thought they could test without killing the bird.b) What if you don't answer the door? c) Are they really going to spend time catching them, or do they throw the book at you if you don't catch them and hand the birds over to them? and d) Does the government really have that much time, money, and extra help on their hands that they can just randomly wander around the countryside???

I have had the same thoughts. We have a license to own chickens. The State has our name, number etc. When the inspector came out
last fall he said they would be hiring new inspectors because of the uptik of people have chickens in the yard.

b) If they want your birds bad enough they will get a search warrant and the police will enforce it.
It depends on how aggresive the USDA is and the trickle down effect to each state.
Offically, they can do a shake down and let the news media know all about their efforts to raise a scare in folks.
It is done all the time for different reasons.
Personally, the lower the key on this the better the industrial complex likes it. Altho, they could start throwing back yard people
under the bus and tell the public it is all our fault, take some of the heat off of them. Backyard people fiddling around with chickens
well just how dare they.!
You have good questions.
mg

 

[WalnutHill]

Here is some reading material:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/emergency_management/downloads/hpai_response_plan.pdf

 

[mg15]

Here is some reading material:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/emergency_management/downloads/hpai_response_plan.pdf

I didn't get past the ii page.

 

[chicknmania]

Maybe a little treat for the lock down girls.

This morning I opened the door to go in, I was late feeding them and it was a very nice day, though cool. I could hear them fretting at the door. AS soon as I opened it, they literally practically overran me trying to get out. So tomorrow I' will have to try to go in the back door. I brought them 40 lbs of fresh dusting dirt for their pool, but who cares, they wanted to go outside!

 

[WalnutHill]

However USDA APHIS responds to an HPAI outbreak by implementing sanitary measures and a stamping-out policy that involves culling of poultry infected (or suspected of being infected). page 1-11

 

[chicknmania]

I didn't get past the ii page.

yeah, it's long. But, here's the thing that bugs me. I can understand why the USDA doesn't like backyard flocks. They don't have any control over us for the most part. Though it is obvious they're working on that. But WE are not the reason the virus is spreading...it's the factory farms! And the wild birds, of course. Well, they can't eradicate the wild birds....they for sure are not going to blame the factory farms...and the rehabbers and such that have captive wild birds? WEllllll...too much public outcry if they start blaming those guys. And besides, the government has control over them, too. So the back yard chicken owner gets the blame. And that's wrong. If you look at the stats, the number of backyard flocks that have been affected is very low, compared to the big factory farms.

 

[WalnutHill]

4.2.2 Epidemiological Principles Three basic epidemiological principles form the foundation to contain, control, and eradicate HPAI in the U.S. poultry population: 1. Prevent contact between HPAI virus and susceptible poultry. a. This is accomplished through quarantine of infected poultry and movement controls in the Infected Zone(s) and Buffer Zone(s) [Control Areas (CA)], along with biosecurity procedures to protect non-infected animals. Critical Activities and Tools for Containment, Control, and Eradication • Public awareness campaign • Swift imposition of effective quarantine and movement controls • Rapid diagnosis and reporting • Epidemiological investigation and tracing • Increased surveillance • Continuity of business measures for non-infected premises and noncontaminated animal products (for example, see Appendix D on the Secure Egg Supply [SES] Plan) • Biosecurity measures • Mass depopulation and euthanasia, potentially including preemptive culling • Effective and appropriate disposal procedures • Cleaning and disinfection measures • Emergency vaccination (as the response strategy indicates) Certain circumstances may warrant accelerating the depopulation or slaughter of poultry at risk for exposure to HPAI to decrease the population density of susceptible poultry. c. There is a serious but lesser transmission risk posed by other people, material, conveyances, and animals that may have been in contact with HPAI and serve as mechanical vectors. Contact between poultry and these items should be prevented, and transmission risk mitigated through biosecurity and cleaning and disinfection measures. 2. Stop the production of HPAI virus by infected or exposed animals. This is accomplished by slaughter or mass depopulation (and disposal) of infected and potentially infected poultry. 3. Increase the disease resistance of susceptible poultry to the HPAI virus. This is accomplished by strategic emergency vaccination.