Avian Flu (H5N1) - Discussion

[SarahLadd]

Another Minnesota backyard flock is lost. Posted today.

"I have been hesitant to post this, but here it goes. Friday morning I found one of my geese dead. By noon I found my big tom turkey dead and my big red rooster. Saturday morning I had more dead birds. I called the bird flu hot line. They had a lady out to test live and dead birds that day. This morning the death toll was over 30 birds. I got a call this afternoon. Positive for bird flu. There will be a team here Tomorrow morning to put down all my birds. 150 in total. Ducks, turkey, geese and chickens. This includes the 10 little ducklings and 2 little goslings. Only a week old. This also includes all the eggs I have. Including the ones my geese and turkeys have been sitting on and the 80+ duck eggs I have in the incubator. Everthing poultry on my property. I will have to bury them all. All the eggs I have sold are safe to eat. All the chicks I sold are safe. By what they have told me. They were pre-breakout. I will not be able to have poultry until I pass testing. Testing can't be done till 150 days after disposal of animals. They say with my pond there is a really good chance it was brought in from wild ducks. That is where most of these cases of private flocks come from. That's all I know at the moment."

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Another Minnesota backyard flock is lost. Posted today.

"I have been hesitant to post this, but here it goes. Friday morning I found one of my geese dead. By noon I found my big tom turkey dead and my big red rooster. Saturday morning I had more dead birds. I called the bird flu hot line. They had a lady out to test live and dead birds that day. This morning the death toll was over 30 birds. I got a call this afternoon. Positive for bird flu. There will be a team here Tomorrow morning to put down all my birds. 150 in total. Ducks, turkey, geese and chickens. This includes the 10 little ducklings and 2 little goslings. Only a week old. This also includes all the eggs I have. Including the ones my geese and turkeys have been sitting on and the 80+ duck eggs I have in the incubator. Everthing poultry on my property. I will have to bury them all. All the eggs I have sold are safe to eat. All the chicks I sold are safe. By what they have told me. They were pre-breakout. I will not be able to have poultry until I pass testing. Testing can't be done till 150 days after disposal of animals. They say with my pond there is a really good chance it was brought in from wild ducks. That is where most of these cases of private flocks come from. That's all I know at the moment."

Gosh, that sucks.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Another Minnesota backyard flock is lost. Posted today.

"I have been hesitant to post this, but here it goes. Friday morning I found one of my geese dead. By noon I found my big tom turkey dead and my big red rooster. Saturday morning I had more dead birds. I called the bird flu hot line. They had a lady out to test live and dead birds that day. This morning the death toll was over 30 birds. I got a call this afternoon. Positive for bird flu. There will be a team here Tomorrow morning to put down all my birds. 150 in total. Ducks, turkey, geese and chickens. This includes the 10 little ducklings and 2 little goslings. Only a week old. This also includes all the eggs I have. Including the ones my geese and turkeys have been sitting on and the 80+ duck eggs I have in the incubator. Everthing poultry on my property. I will have to bury them all. All the eggs I have sold are safe to eat. All the chicks I sold are safe. By what they have told me. They were pre-breakout. I will not be able to have poultry until I pass testing. Testing can't be done till 150 days after disposal of animals. They say with my pond there is a really good chance it was brought in from wild ducks. That is where most of these cases of private flocks come from. That's all I know at the moment."

thank you for sharing this - I was wondering if they would let eggs be kept, since the process of incubation is hot enough, for long enough, to kill the HPAI (and as the commercial hatchery was allowed to do). Seems like that varies by State. That's alos a VERY long property quarantine period.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

thank you for sharing this - I was wondering if they would let eggs be kept, since the process of incubation is hot enough, for long enough, to kill the HPAI (and as the commercial hatchery was allowed to do). Seems like that varies by State. That's alos a VERY long property quarantine period.

Yes but however when the eggs hatch, hypothetically, what will you do?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Yes but however when the eggs hatch, hypothetically, what will you do?

I live in FL. My average temps, this time of year, are high enough to kill HPAI before incubation is complete - or will be by next month. We are already hitting high 80s during the day, and our humidity ensures we don't (normally) have deep drops in temp overnight. I don't think 70F minimum for three weeks solid is enough to reliably kill all HPAI strains, but I'm certain that 80F min for two weeks will, based on the published studies - particularly as I expect highs in the mid to upper 90s.
So a three week incubation in a 95F degree environment ensures there's no HPAI in the hatch. another couple weeks inside in the brooder, and by the time they touch my grounds, there will be no trace of HPAI in the soil or anywhere else.

Hypothetically.
Based on the published research.

Not that I've given it much thought.
But since you asked...

 

[Fuchsia]

I am not in a panic, or worried in the slightest bit. My flock is happy and healthy. I believe the "bird flu" is being made into a big deal that it really isn't. There are hundreds if sicknesses that any chicken could catch. To put it simply, they are kind of twisting it around....just like Covid.

I have to agree. The only reason I’m concerned about it is because I don’t want farms around here getting the ‘bird flu’ and then someone telling me I have to kill my birds.

 

[Folly's place]

Sarah, I'm so sorry! Not how any of us want to start over...
Mary

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I thought that was Sarah repeating the post of an unnamed someone known to her, not Sarah speaking for herself??? I may be a bad copy of a human, but even I would have some small sense of empathy if she lost her own flock and would be w/o replacements for at least half a year.

Was I mistaken?

 

[Folly's place]

I thought it was Sarah, missed or misunderstood those quotations around the story she shared. Very sad, whoever it is.
Mary

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I thought it was Sarah, missed or misunderstood those quotations around the story she shared. Very sad, whoever it is.
Mary

Yes, I just don't feel for some unnamed someone... I'm not wired for emotional connections to the nameless/faceless with whom I have no relationship. As I said, I'm bad at being a decent human.