Avian influenza found in South Carolina

[HeatherKellyB]

Oh no! I hate that sinking and faint feeling that I'm experiencing right now. Reading that NC is now on this list has me in a serious mess. I don't free range my ducks, but I have some yard roosters that hang out running around between the coops and my shop. They're yard roosters because I can't pin them up during the day. I guess I better be figuring out how to get them contained asap. They are locked up at night but they'll need to be locked up full time apparently. Do the runs have to be covered by a solid cover or is netting OK? My heart breaks for all of the folks that have been through this.

Thank you so much @Folly's place for this information. I really appreciate the heads up more than I can explain

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Today's USDA Newsroom release

The "generic" USDA Newsroom link

Thank you for these links. They were helpful. I've bookmarked to read through them again in the morning. Thank you again

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Thank you for these links. They were helpful. I've bookmarked to read through them again in the morning. Thank you again

I ain't good for much, but I know how to troll the web, and i can link like a master

 

[Folly's place]

Linking isn't a skill I've mastered...
Mary

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I ain't good for much, but I know how to troll the web, and i can link like a master

I don't believe that for one second! You are full of knowledge and many of us appreciate you sharing so much with us. Plus, you have a way with words that makes even the most complicated a little easier to understand. So appreciative of you and your time

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Linking isn't a skill I've mastered...
Mary

Same here Mrs. Mary Thank you so much for the heads up. You're another one that's full of information and I love your post (well except for this one only because of the unfortunate information). Thank you for everything you do

 

[raingarden]

We had a 79 yr old man from Devon test positive for bird flu, the H5N1 strain. It is very rare for that to happen, he had his 20 ducks living inside his home.

There is always a price to pay for keeping a duck in the house.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

There is always a price to pay for keeping a duck in the house.

In my personal opinion, 20 is a huge difference to 1 or even 3. I just can't imagine 20, unless he had a basement or something like that. I've had to keep my youngest 3 in the bathroom before. They are little Call Ducks, but still messy little girls that can send poop and wet mushy food flying in places that will surprise anyone! I was reading a post here on BYC not too long ago where a lady had fixed up her basement to let her ducks to stay in there. She had a drain in the floor to wash away any poop or soggy food (although it's about the same thing when talking ducks ). That doesn't seem as bad to me, but I haven't experienced it or cleaned up after them. 20 ducks seems excessive but I guess it depends. There are some massive homes and some have separate wings or a basement, but still 20 ducks is a lot to clean up after. I wonder if he moved them indoors in hopes of protecting them from the AI? That's just so sad and crazy that that strain killed him. If I had a basement like that, I don't know if I could handle my 17 ducks and even more chickens. Either way, sounds like there's no way around this, only through it.

@3KillerBs did you see that it's now been discovered in NC

 

[Kiki]

Linking isn't a skill I've mastered...
Mary

If you tell me which device /browser you use I will take a video and show you exactly how to do it.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Im pretty sure if your birds are in a covered pen and coop then your fine its people who free range is where they get culled.

In some parts of California authorities were euthanizing ALL poultry within quarantine zones, even if poultry were confined in covered pens, and even if poultry were kept in a person's house. I believe the draconian practice was eventually stopped due to massive public outcry.

North and South Carolina are both in the Atlantic migratory flyway, so poultry keepers in those states should pay attention for further developments. The central flyway states (of which my state is a part) had a big scare back in 2015, when millions of commercial layer hens were euthanized after avian flu was confirmed in some northern states within the central flyway zone. No need to panic, but if I currently lived in Atlantic flyway states I would keep watch for any further spread. And I would be prepared to pen poultry i wished to keep under a covered roof until any quarantined areas are given the all-clear.