Best practise during the UK Avian Flu outbreak

[richardeblack]

Hello All,
As you all know, we are in chicken lockdown in the UK.
I am trying to do the best I can to comply with the guidance but it is really for larger producers and wonder if people think I am taking enough precautions.
My chicken run and coop are wild bird and vermin proof with a roof so no faeces can drop in.
My feed store is in a garden shed which I have made wild bird proof and, as much as is possible, vermin proof. This shed is about 20ft from my run so my procedure is to prepare any greens etc that I am giving them, go from my house to the shed where I put a lab coat on which is stored in the shed and clean my hands with IPA. I collect any other feed that is needed from the vermin proof bins in tubs which I keep in there and my wellington boots which I carry over to the door of the run.
Here I clean the wellingtons thoroughly in disinfectant (currently bleach solution but I have just got some Antec Farm Fluid which I think is now called Virkon LSP which I will make up tomorrow at the DEFRA recommended concentration) which is in a tray with a lid. I then spray the door catch with IPA.
I then fight my way into the run and feed the chicks, top up food and give them their treats and greens, collect eggs then clear up any droppings and left food.
I then make my way out of the run and thoroughly scrub my wellies to clean off any mud or muck then, in my other boots, go round to the back of the coop and clear droppings (still wearing my lab coat). I usually fully clear out the coop once a month and disinfect and put down new bedding.
I then make my way back to the shed where I leave my lab coat (I wash it every week), wellies and feed tubs.
I then go back and feed the wild birds (well away from the chicken run), then go in, thorough wash and have a cuppa!
Can someone tell me if I am taking sufficient precautions please?
I am completely paranoid as we have a neighbour behind our property with a unit which raises tens of thousands of chickens at a time for a huge egg farmer and I am terrified that my chicks should get it and they decide to sue me for their losses. I doubt if they can but it doesn't stop me worrying. It also doesn't help that the same company have lost at least 3 or 4 barns of chickens about 15 miles from me.
Sorry about such a tedious post but just don't know if I am doing the right thing.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Richard.
Lincolnshire wolds.
ps. I only have 4 pet chickens

 

[Boise-girls]

I have no expertise in this area, but sounds to me like you couldn't do more. Kudos to you for going to so much effort for your four gals. A lot of people would have just given up. I'm so impressed!

 

[aart]

I am completely paranoid as we have a unit which raises tens of thousands of chickens at a time for a huge egg farmer and I am terrified that my chicks should get it and they decide to sue me for their losses

This is on your property and you care for these 1000's of birds?

@LaFleche and @Shadrach and can you tag any others over there?

 

[Krugerrand]

I then go back and feed the wild birds (well away from the chicken run), then go in, thorough wash and have a cuppa!

Is there a need to feed wild birds? It sounds like your operation is worth letting the wild birds fend for themselves.

 

[Shadrach]

My understanding is bird flu is being transmitted by migrating water fowl mainly. @Perris I think will bear this out. There comes a point where the health problems caused by confinment outwiegh the posssible benefits of avoiding bird flu.
As usual fowl diseases get blamed on wild birds. There isn't much evidence that this is the case.
The important precaution is to deny migrating fowl access to any water on your property so if you have a large pond for example then you should net this.
If you feed your chickens out of the run then you need to supervise to discourage wild birds from joining in.
A foot bath only really helps if you go from your property to another where there are poultry. The easy way around this is to keep seperate footware for chicken duties.
Better still is to feed in a covered run. This just isn't possible for everyone.
Like many Government recommendations, they are mainly aimed at large commercial poultry concerns.
If you cover water outside the run, feed inside the run and if the run isn't covered remove the feed once the chickens have eaten. Keep the footware you use in the run, in the run and discourage wild birds from eating on your property there isn't much more you can do.
What you shouldn't do is have fowl free ranging unsupervised with food and water left out.

 

[Perris]

Hi Richard. Bird flu is spread by duck poop. Ducks don't suffer from it but spread it liberally wherever they go. So bodies of water visited by ducks get infected, then any birds that drink and float around in that water are at risk. Hence the list of wild birds with AI (avian influenza) consists almost entirely of swans and geese, plus a handful of shore birds like gulls, and carrion feeders like buzzards. The DEFRA / APHA list is updated weekly here for you to have a look for yourself and reassure yourself that garden birds are absent https://assets.publishing.service.g...ata/file/1042826/ai-findings-2021.csv/preview

By far the biggest threat of transmission for big poultry operations is the people going in and out of them. If you look at the list of poultry operations affected, they cluster. Often they are different units of the same large concern, because their workers spread it from shed to shed and business to business despite the hygiene efforts that they make (e.g. egg collecting lorries going from hen houses to packing stations, which are visited by everyone producing commercially in the area). Studies in France at last outbreak there showed that conclusively. I am sure no one will sue you for what you're doing with your 4 pet chickens.

 

[richardeblack]

This is on your property and you care for these 1000's of birds?

@LaFleche and @Shadrach and can you tag any others over there?

Sorry, badly written and didn't check. I have now clarified this in my original post. The property with tens of thousands of birds is my neighbour immediately behind me and owned by a very large egg provider (and provider of laying hens to other commercial egg producers).
I only have the 3 hens and a cockerel.
I'm afraid I'm not sure what the tagging bit means or if is meant for me.

Hi Richard. Bird flu is spread by duck poop. Ducks don't suffer from it but spread it liberally wherever they go. So bodies of water visited by ducks get infected, then any birds that drink and float around in that water are at risk. Hence the list of wild birds with AI (avian influenza) consists almost entirely of swans and geese, plus a handful of shore birds like gulls, and carrion feeders like buzzards. The DEFRA / APHA list is updated weekly here for you to have a look for yourself and reassure yourself that garden birds are absent https://assets.publishing.service.g...ata/file/1042826/ai-findings-2021.csv/preview

By far the biggest threat of transmission for big poultry operations is the people going in and out of them. If you look at the list of poultry operations affected, they cluster. Often they are different units of the same large concern, because their workers spread it from shed to shed and business to business despite the hygiene efforts that they make (e.g. egg collecting lorries going from hen houses to packing stations, which are visited by everyone producing commercially in the area). Studies in France at last outbreak there showed that conclusively. I am sure no one will sue you for what you're doing with your 4 pet chickens.

Thank you Perris. I knew about it being spread by water fowl mainly but didn't realise that they don't suffer from it. I have noticed that in the last outbreak, it was mainly farms with water courses or lakes very nearby.
Thanks also for the information about the most common transmission modes. It does set my mind at rest thank you.

My understanding is bird flu is being transmitted by migrating water fowl mainly. @Perris I think will bear this out. There comes a point where the health problems caused by confinment outwiegh the posssible benefits of avoiding bird flu.
As usual fowl diseases get blamed on wild birds. There isn't much evidence that this is the case.
The important precaution is to deny migrating fowl access to any water on your property so if you have a large pond for example then you should net this.
If you feed your chickens out of the run then you need to supervise to discourage wild birds from joining in.
A foot bath only really helps if you go from your property to another where there are poultry. The easy way around this is to keep seperate footware for chicken duties.
Better still is to feed in a covered run. This just isn't possible for everyone.
Like many Government recommendations, they are mainly aimed at large commercial poultry concerns.
If you cover water outside the run, feed inside the run and if the run isn't covered remove the feed once the chickens have eaten. Keep the footware you use in the run, in the run and discourage wild birds from eating on your property there isn't much more you can do.
What you shouldn't do is have fowl free ranging unsupervised with food and water left out.

Thank you Shadrach. The reason I disinfect my boots before going in is because I can't keep them in the run and I put them on just outside the run on disinfected boarding. I just want to be as safe as possible. My chicks don't leave their covered secure run which is where they are fed and watered.
Luckily there are no ponds, streams or lakes nearby so the only water fowl are ones flying overhead which I get a few of. My other concern wild bird wise is the pigeons, jackdaws and pheasants which come into my garden. Hence my reasons for being as thorough as possible. I have never seen any evidence that small birds are affected by bird flu. I have so many garden birds (tits, sparrows, blackbirds and robins mainly) that I am really reluctant to stop feeding them. If it is essential, I will, with heavy heart, stop feeding them.
Thank you again.

Thanks all for your advise, assistance and (Boise-Girls) kind thoughts and comments.

Richard.

 

[DustyDivas]

Love the sound of the set up you have Richard
It sounds like you are doing everything you can to keep your flock safe and sound

My 6 ladies are precious to me too so also doing everything I can to keep them safe. Hopefully it won't be needed for too much longer