Anyone see this Bird Flu article?

[itsy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14709024

 

[ChicKat]

Hi itsy,

This part and fear-mongering are the 'scary' parts IMO:
"It has also killed or provoked the culling of more than 400m domestic poultry worldwide and caused an estimated $20bn (£12.2bn) of economic damage."

So I think this article refers to a mutant of the H5N1 virus, and there is also concern that H2N2 flu virus is on the rise. The second one only dangerous to people under age 50 I think.

Time to educate people that many people don't use the same flock raising methods employed in SouthEast Asia, and for all of us to be more aware of biosecurity for our birds.

 

[thailand]

Hi,

I live in Thailand and this is a bit scary for me. I'm doing my best to keep my birds safe, but I'm just very new to raising chickens and so don't have all the knowledge I might need to keep my birds safe from this.

I have three LF Brahma who are now 7 months old. I keep them in a coop inside our barn (tiled floor with deep litter on top of this). I do let them out to free-range every day from 8am - 6pm.

Please - all advice to keep them safe from bird flu will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Angela (and D'Artagnon, Aramis and Matilda)

 

[Oldfort_mailman]

Quote:
When u say deep litter do you mean you keep lots of old dookie in the pen? Its better to keep poop cleaned out on a regular basis. It makes air quality and sanitation better.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Deep litter is a management where you put more litter on top, so it kind of composts in place.

 

[thailand]

Hello,

Yes I do just keep the poop in the coop and regularly put new wood shavings on top. So far the shavings are about 6-8 inches deep and there is no smell whatsoever.

Every six months I clean the whole thing out and start all over again.

What other things should I have in place to keep my small flock safe from bird flu?

 

[ChicKat]

Quote:
Hi Angela,

I would say that any research you could do both here and on the general internet may be helpful to you and give you good ideas about the disease and how it is progressing. Search on 'biosecurity' and you will probably get a lot of information.

Some of the things that I know we are 'lax' on are things like not having other chicken owners over to visit our flocks and not visiting theirs, and keeping a pair of shoes/boots/clogs or something specifically for the chicken coop area and no place else.

Maybe you could even start a thread on biosecurity and the latest developments for flock care....because I think that there are probably a lot of folks on the forum here with expertise, and it is a subject that should be reviewed. Your location makes it more cruical to you.

Good luck on keeping all your birds in the best of health.