Should i be scared of H5N1 (bird flu)?

[Bryce Thomas]

I live in Gilbert, AZ and have lots of friends who are birders and they are a great help to me. I try to prevent illness as much as possible by not letting birds in my backyard besides my chickens, I do this by trimming the plants, making the yard unattractive, clearing fallen debris, covering the compost and more. I am also keeping the chickens inside the coop/run and not letting them free range, i'm afraid of one of the girls eating some wild bird pooping and getting sick. I have not seen any wild birds have any illness symptoms of any illness, I asked all my birder friends and they said all the bird including those ducks and geese seem perfectly fine. I live in AZ, most of this bird flu seems to be going on in the east coast, should I be afraid or am I letting my worries get to me. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

EDIT: just so it is known, H5N1 has NOT been detected in AZ or the surrounding states, but i'm afraid as migratory birds start flying back here they will bring illness with them

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Imho, there is no point in fretting. I live in the Northwest, and have gone through several Avian Flu scares with no problems whatsoever.

You are doing well to keep wild birds out, so I'd let the girls roam some, as long as other predators can't get them (ie hawks, coyotes, etc)

Viruses travel on the air, so if there is a heavy infestation in your area, you'd have to put bubble domes around your coops and feed them in a hazmat suit.

Live sensibly. Don't worry is my 2 cents.

LofMc

 

[sierraforest]

I live in Gilbert, AZ and have lots of friends who are birders and they are a great help to me. I try to prevent illness as much as possible by not letting birds in my backyard besides my chickens, I do this by trimming the plants, making the yard unattractive, clearing fallen debris, covering the compost and more. I am also keeping the chickens inside the coop/run and not letting them free range, i'm afraid of one of the girls eating some wild bird pooping and getting sick. I have not seen any wild birds have any illness symptoms of any illness, I asked all my birder friends and they said all the bird including those ducks and geese seem perfectly fine. I live in AZ, most of this bird flu seems to be going on in the east coast, should I be afraid or am I letting my worries get to me. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

EDIT: just so it is known, H5N1 has NOT been detected in AZ or the surrounding states, but i'm afraid as migratory birds start flying back here they will bring illness with them

You're not alone, I'm equally concerned. If Covid-19 had never happened, I may not be as worried over the current bird flu, but the experiences of the past 2+ years have affected many peoples' behaviors and perspectives, and I'm not different. H5N1 might not currently be in Oregon but it was found in a bald eagle in British Columbia earlier this month, which means it's in the Pacific Flyway and likely is more widespread than anyone yet realizes given birds' springtime migratory patterns. The other concerning thing about this current flu is that this strain oddly came from Europe, which is unusual since birds typically migrate north-south and not east-west, and has spread pretty rapidly through the East Coast and Midwest. It's in Colorado now, too.

I worry for our ducks (who free range daily and hate being cooped up in their enclosure whenever we do have to secure them) because according to the CDC and other sources "ducks can be infected without any signs of illness." We have no way of preventing wild birds from landing on our property—it happens all the time—and we don't have a way to set them up indoors, so anyway, we're worried.

It sounds like you're doing all kinds of things to protect your flock though so I guess continue to be diligent and keep an eye on how the flu continues to spread.

 

[BlueBaby]

@sierraforest It's in Colorado now? I didn't see it listed at this link that I have been watching here. Is there another link that I should be watching?

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...pai-2022/2022-hpai-commercial-backyard-flocks

 

[sierraforest]

@sierraforest It's in Colorado now? I didn't see it listed at this link that I have been watching here. Is there another link that I should be watching?

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...pai-2022/2022-hpai-commercial-backyard-flocks

Yes, the link I embedded is https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-wild-birds ; the table's behaving a bit strangely for me when I sort the data but on the 24th, 6 cases in wild birds were recorded.

 

[BlueBaby]

Yes, the link I embedded is https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-wild-birds ; the table's behaving a bit strangely for me when I sort the data but on the 24th, 6 cases in wild birds were recorded.

Ok, thank you! I keep my flock in a coop with an attached covered run, so they aren't out there in the yard running around with the wild bird's.

 

[sierraforest]

Ok, thank you! I keep my flock in a coop with an attached covered run, so they aren't out there in the yard running around with the wild bird's.

Nice! I wish we had trained our girls to be comfortable with a set up like that. Instead, they quack nearly the entire time they're in their protected enclosure, which irritates the neighbors and stresses us out. Lesson learned.

 

[BlueBaby]

Nice! I wish we had trained our girls to be comfortable with a set up like that. Instead, they quack nearly the entire time they're in their protected enclosure, which irritates the neighbors and stresses us out. Lesson learned.

I just have chicken's over here, so if I hear a quack I'll know that something isn't right.