Avian flu has the capacity for major financial consequences. If processed chicken can't be transported across state lines, there will not be chicken in grocery stores, or eggs either for that matter. Hatcheries won't be able to ship chicks. Hatching eggs won't be shipped. Any states involved will not be able yo have chicken shows or auctions. No FFA or 4-H chicken activities.
When layer houses are de-populated, the farmer will lose up to 9 months of income. He may very well lose the family farm and home.
When I lived in WV, there was an Avian flu scare. Any farm in the quarantine area was QUARANTINED IMMEDIATELY. My friend at work owned a commercial chicken farm with her husband. She had to arrange a place for her kids to stay, because if they went home from school they could not leave the property until the quarantine was lifted. She had to buy clothes for herself and the kids, because she could not go home. The ONLY traffic in and out of her farm were agriculture department personnel and feed trucks. ALL vehicles were sanitized/disinfected when they left the farm BEFORE they got back on the highway.
It is hard to imagine living with those types of restrictions in the USA. But, if the farmer does not follow quarantine guidelines, he will lose his contract with the chicken company, something he cannot afford to do.
When layer houses are de-populated, the farmer will lose up to 9 months of income. He may very well lose the family farm and home.
When I lived in WV, there was an Avian flu scare. Any farm in the quarantine area was QUARANTINED IMMEDIATELY. My friend at work owned a commercial chicken farm with her husband. She had to arrange a place for her kids to stay, because if they went home from school they could not leave the property until the quarantine was lifted. She had to buy clothes for herself and the kids, because she could not go home. The ONLY traffic in and out of her farm were agriculture department personnel and feed trucks. ALL vehicles were sanitized/disinfected when they left the farm BEFORE they got back on the highway.
It is hard to imagine living with those types of restrictions in the USA. But, if the farmer does not follow quarantine guidelines, he will lose his contract with the chicken company, something he cannot afford to do.
