Avian influenza found in South Carolina

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The reason I ask about a chicken sitter is this: my options are my neighbors.

Right next door would be the logical choice: she has chickens, and I took care of her flock over Thanksgiving. Except her run is uncovered, and occasionally, her chickens escape, though they don't get far. She wants a bigger, better, covered run, but she has a LOT of irons in the fire, so it might not happen.

DH has said that we (neighbor and I) should avoid getting near each other's flocks, as a precaution. That might be like locking the barn door after the horses escape, but could be a good idea.

We're kind of a community back here. There are 5 houses, and we all walk along the same road, so do our dogs. We're at the end of the road, so nobody "walks by" our house, though we pass every other house on the road when we walk our dog.

There are plenty of geese in the area, year round. We're on a river, and just upstream is a dam and reservoir, and I've seen ducks there. I don't know if it's their summer home, but it could be. If so, that may mean if AI comes to the area (and Kalamazoo is less than 100 miles from me), it could be here all summer. Or forever.

Do I stay home to take care of my birds, or chance someone else coming on the property? I haven't brought this up to DH, yet, and he hasn't made the connection in his head, yet, that he's mentioned. The "conflict" overseas has dominated his thoughts since yesterday, not AI possibly on our doorstep.

What would you do, in my position?
My understanding (fair warn, I'm plenty ignorant on plenty of things) is that the summer grounds are further north of you, still. I would not rearrange my life around AI.

Basic Biosecurity - without regard to AI - suggests that flocks don't mix, and humans don't become a disease vector between them. That weighs against calling on the neighbor (or the neighbor calling on you).

I missed how long you expected to be gone, but its certainly possible to mechanically "automate" with relatively little effort (or expense) so that your chickens can largely care for themselves for a short period, using a combination of bulk feeders and multiple deep water sources with gravity or float fillers, so that even if one fails, the chickens continue to have sources of clean water. The only thing I do to provide my birds water is to periodically EMPTY the bowls, to remove accumulated dirt (my ducks are entirely to blame).

/edit were it not for my goats sharing the same space (I know this is a bad idea, precisely because of feeding concerns), I'd be able to go 5-7 days absent with no concerns whatsoever for my birds, apart from overfull nest boxes. All I'd need to do is set out 100# of feed in the Jfeeders and weather sheltered gutters. The water already takes care of itself.
 
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Honestly @Sally PB I think you have to weigh the risk vs the reward. If we go away this year, it will be for only 2-3 days when my chicks are 4 weeks old and I can bring the dog crate to my aunts house where they will be safe indoors and I can ask her to wear different clothes and wash before changing out food & water each day. I told DH I don’t want to travel this year once thr girls are out in the coop, and he was fine with that. I also feel comfortable enough to ask my aunt to wear different shoes if she does have to come lock up at night at all this summer. We already agreed to have different footwear. I help her at the farm but have to drive there so I keep shoes in my car and wear them only when attending to the farm chickens. I told DH I’d be purchasing a second pair of shoes to be worn only in our chicken run. Do you feel comfortable having these talks w your neighbors? If not, then decide if it is worth risking your flock for a few days away. I would rather forgo a trip this year if I didn’t have someone I could trust to take care of my girls.
 
I missed how long you expected to be gone
Oops. I didn't say. I've told DH I can't be away from the garden for more than 1 week, so that would be the max time.

I'm very nervous about leaving; I haven't gone away since I've had chickens. It'll be two years the end of March.

DH was understanding, though not happy, when I didn't go with him to NC to visit his dad last year. A good friend who moved to Maine is getting married in July, and wants us to come to the wedding. We'd be driving out, so 5-6 days would be the minimum. I've mentioned that I could fly back, and that might be a possible way to shorten the time for me. Then he could drive back at his leisure.

have to weigh the risk vs the reward
Yup. Except I'll worry the whole time I'm gone, because that's just me.
 
My brother works for the WV DNR and they sent him this email Tuesday. It’s probably nothing new but I haven’t read through the entire thread yet.
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Y'all, I'm pretty nervous about this. Yesterday I noticed a white SUV (typical county vehicle) with a county design on the door, pull into my neighbors driveway. My emotions were all over the place. The nearest commercial poultry house is probably 2 to 3 miles from me (I'm the world's worst at estimations) and the wild birds keep flying in, unwelcomed. On Saturday, we had a pair of Hooded Mergansers (picture quality is absolutely horrible but I was really nervous). They were also here last Thursday. They were here for much longer than I preferred but they left shortly after I discovered them.
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A week later, today, I noticed a Mallard pair + one drake on the pond. I thought they left but whenever I took my ducks to be locked up in their duck house, I spotted some eyes in some trees on the ponds edge. I know those eyes didn't belong to bull frogs, and they were a little too far in the water to belong to the wild bunny that lives here. I suspect the Mallards are planning to nest here again. This past Fall I had a Canada Goose pair and a Mallard pair nest here at the same time. They were adorable and welcomed then, but now I just want them to leave. I wish them long and healthy lives, but not here because they're causing way too much stress.
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We are running out of "designated shoes" and I was letting this get to me too much. Thankfully I realized it and with that can better deal with it. I share that just so y'all know that you're not alone if you feel a lot of stress over this. I am doing all I can do and in reality, that's all I can do, not to repeat myself. I am still keeping up with everything but intentionally thinking about it differently.
My apologies if this is ridiculous but I am an encourager for others and always have been, so I felt like there might be someone that needs this 💜

Edited to add: I don't think the county visit had anything to do with this because they didn't visit here and my neighbors would have mentioned anything like that to me. It can be nerve wracking if you're in a certain place of thinking, but I suppose everything can be.
 
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Please do follow up on that. Is there anyway it could have been more benign such as codes for a new water heater or the property appraiser?
Sorry. I realized I didn't mention anymore on this last night as I was writing the post around 1am with horrible internet connection. I edited my post, but I'll post here as well. The country car visit was not in connection to anything related to this virus or poultry in general. My apologies for not closing out my post properly ☺️
 
It would be so helpful to know if these wild birds that are being found dead and their remains testing positive for h5n1, died from h5n1 or with h5n1. I know we can't get all the information we'd like to have, but that would be nice to know. I'm referring to the deceased redhead duck found in NC.
It seems they could certainly give a little more detail on the hunter-harvested ones.
 

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