Avian Flu

[Rurumo]

Take precautions or not, no one is forcing you to, I've never heard of Federal agents chasing free range poultry around or inspecting your coop. I'm guessing that the vast majority of small flocks that get culled are due to voluntary reporting-or possibly mandatory Vet reporting from necropsies. I know a lot of people want to attach some conspiracy nonsense to the Avian Influenza outbreak, because they're already in the "big government/virus/nanocomputers-in-feed conspiracy mindset, and that's a sad thing.

Take precautions or not, it's up to you. Good biocontrol procedures absolutely reduce the risk your flock coming down with a virus, weather Avian Influenza or Marek's or others. This is the longest running outbreak which is probably a sign it's permanent and just something we have to live with. Now that people have started dying again from H5N1, I'd rather not take any chances. Someone made a comment in another post that the people who died in Cambodia, contracted H5N1 because of poor hygiene, but be honest....we handle our chickens a lot, most of us without gloves/respirators/full body protection. How different do you think we are from people raising chickens in developing countries? The first thing many of us do when we have a sick bird is...bring it inside! (hey, I do it too) All I'm saying is, one of us is just as likely to contract it as anyone raising chickens in any country, and it's smart to consider increasing your biocontrol procedures now, and probably forever. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure-love those old sayings.

 

[BDutch]

An article from levende have in NL about the the bird flu and the nonsense of keeping poultry locked in. https://www.levendehave.nl/nieuws/u...ogelgriep?mc_cid=b4460c73df&mc_eid=6a83c147c1
Most important part. Translated with google:

The bird flu epidemic has now lasted more than fifteen months. During all that time, a large part of the country had an obligation to contain and shield *). Up to the present day. For chickens that are used to living in freedom, that feels like an eternity. They probably don't know any better by now. But all the restrictions do take their toll. The chickens miss foraging, taking a dust bath in a self-chosen spot.
And why? What are the dangers? From the point of view of virus spread, what is the difference between an infected wild bird in a pasture and an infected chicken in a private garden? And why is there no legal obligation for site owners to clear up dead wild birds?

The longer this takes, the greater the question marks about the usefulness and necessity of the obligation to protect. Especially now that outbreaks are no longer the order of the day. Many private individuals with a few chickens have now given up trying to protect their animals against bird flu with all kinds of constructions of fences, nets and ribbons. They run loose again, or they have been dumped because their owners want to get rid of the nagging.

Directions are hopelessly out of date
In the initial phase of the epidemic, the obligation to shield, or the instruction to "prevent contact with the excrement of wild birds", was still based on rational considerations, now the measure mainly has a routine character. With every infection, the government repeats the message: "For non-commercially kept high-risk birds (growls/chickens, (ornamental) waterfowl and ratites), for example in zoos, petting zoos and owners of birds and chickens, and for commercially kept pheasants, ornamental waterfowl. and ratites, a protection obligation applies.''

It is a gray turned gramophone record. Conviction is missing when an enforcer says: "Just do this now, then we will at least do something". Everyone now knows that the virus has spread so widely and that so many mammals have become infected that shielding with fences, nets, tarpaulins and ribbons as a preventive measure no longer makes much sense. An infection is a matter of bad luck.

The instructions given by the government for the implementation of the shielding obligation (as can be seen in the video on the NVWA website) are hopelessly outdated. At the beginning of the epidemic, the virus mainly came from above, from wild birds, but it has been clear for some time that rats and mice also spread bird flu. One microgram of virus on the feet of these animals is enough to wipe out an entire chicken coop with bird flu. And then there are the numerous infected carcasses in the meadows and ditches, which are eaten by polecats, martens, dogs or cats, which then become infected themselves, or otherwise take the virus to the poultry of the hobby keeper. Only a strict hygiene protocol could prevent contamination. Although that also offers no guarantee, as witnessed by the many bird flu outbreaks at poultry farms.

After a year and a half of bird flu, it can be said that a fence with ribbons, wires, nets and tarpaulins only offers hobby poultry a false sense of security. At least, no one can tell whether this form of prevention actually works. Its effect has not yet been studied. It is also not known whether the animals were screened off at the contaminated locations with hobby poultry. Nor can it be said with certainty whether the infections could have been prevented by (better) shielding.
Information about the numbers of infections is extremely limited. The government has so far not provided data on how many chickens and waterfowl from hobby poultry farmers with fewer than 50 animals have become infected since the start of the epidemic in October 2021. A map on the NVWA website shows only thirteen infections. According to other data, crested fowl, chickens, ducks, geese, and swans have become infected at 15 of these hobby sites in the past five months. But how many animals are actually involved and whether they were all sick cannot be determined from the available data.

 

[Tram]

Take precautions or not, no one is forcing you to, I've never heard of Federal agents chasing free range poultry around or inspecting your coop. I'm guessing that the vast majority of small flocks that get culled are due to voluntary reporting-or possibly mandatory Vet reporting from necropsies. I know a lot of people want to attach some conspiracy nonsense to the Avian Influenza outbreak, because they're already in the "big government/virus/nanocomputers-in-feed conspiracy mindset, and that's a sad thing.

Take precautions or not, it's up to you. Good biocontrol procedures absolutely reduce the risk your flock coming down with a virus, weather Avian Influenza or Marek's or others. This is the longest running outbreak which is probably a sign it's permanent and just something we have to live with. Now that people have started dying again from H5N1, I'd rather not take any chances. Someone made a comment in another post that the people who died in Cambodia, contracted H5N1 because of poor hygiene, but be honest....we handle our chickens a lot, most of us without gloves/respirators/full body protection. How different do you think we are from people raising chickens in developing countries? The first thing many of us do when we have a sick bird is...bring it inside! (hey, I do it too) All I'm saying is, one of us is just as likely to contract it as anyone raising chickens in any country, and it's smart to consider increasing your biocontrol procedures now, and probably forever. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure-love those old sayings.

Old post but just got off the phone with Texas A&M about doing a necropsy. I specificity asked if they reported positive finds of AF. That I didn't want people showing up to cull my flock. She stated that they are required by law to report any positive finding. It is one of the test they do during a necropsy.
I know my tin foil hat is a bit tight but it sure feels like a rock & hard place.