Biosecurity at the Fair

[Ridgerunner]

A lot of state and county fairs will soon be starting. It is a great opportunity to see different varieties of chickens and possibly make contacts for hatching eggs or chickens with some owners/exhibiters there. It's also an opportunity to transmit diseases to chickens.

Biosecurity works both ways. Protect the chickens at the fair from anything your flock may have as much as you protect your flock from anything you may pick up at the fair. You never know what diseases or parasites your flock has and has developed immunities to or have not yet come down with or not yet shown symptoms. And don't assume that because the fair chickens may have vaccination and inspection certificates that there is no threat. Somebody not exhibiting chickens can carry something on their shoes that you pick up and take home to yours. And certificates can be faked, especially with a good printer. A certificate has the same value as the integrity of the person who signed it.

Don't wear the same clothes to the fair that you wear around your chickens, especially shoes, or disinfect them before and after you go. A shower is not out of order before and after the fair, especially before if you want to make new friends. I won't go as far as the commercial producers who make the feed delivery trucks wash and disinfect their tires before they enter the chicken area, but do what you feel safe doing.

Enjoy the fair. It is a great outing, especially with the kids. Just remember to clean their shoes.

 

[Camelot Farms]

Great reminder!

We are considering using those little blue shoe covers for visitors to our barn. I love company and I love to show off my birds so I will never turn away a guest but I dont want germs either.

DH thinks I'm crazy...

 

[Chickenaddict]

Good advice! I go to the fair every year and have a "special" pair of shoes i wear, they are easy to disinfect. I also shower before and after, once I am home again I don't touch any of my chickens until I have showered and changed my clothes. I have always done this when i go to another chicken owners house too. One can never be too careful.

 

[SunshineSilkies]

Ridegrunner,
Very good topic to bring up this time of year. I am a fanatic about biosecurity. I have had people look at me like I was crazy when they come around my pens and I ask them to spray their shoes with a bottle of Oxine and water that I have made up. I never let anyone but myself in my pens and I think you have to be especially careful at the fairs. I have seen people bring in cages with so many birds in it, I don't know how they survived the trip from their house. People bring dirty birds also even though they are supposed to be cleaned. I take alot of time getting my birds ready for a show or a fair. I always put some VetRX on their beaks, wattles and combs when I put them in their cages. Just a little added protection. I think alot of people overlook the fact that the fair volunteers that usually feed and water the birds just go from one cage to the next without gloves or spraying or sanitizing their hands. You can never be too careful....................

Edited for grammar

 

[SunshineSilkies]

Thought this post deserved a bump for other opinions!!

 

[StupidBird]

Definitely! Bump!
Went to England during the scare with the sheep disease, doing garden tours. We'd step off the coach into a spongy tray of antiseptic solution before stepping off onto the land, and many places had little portable handwashing stations too. I think it is only practical to be careful. It doesn't take much trouble to wear my barn boots out to the coop, or wear cleanable footwear to the fair (I mean really, it's all barns!).

 

[Wifezilla]

Just got done reading "Everything I want to do is illegal" by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. His take on biosecurity is MUCH different. It isn't the small producers and backyard flocks that are the problem. It is the large, over crowded industrial operations that are the problem. Their flocks do not have properly developed immune systems. He invites people to visit his farm and see his operation without dressing them up in bio suits or the booties.

Me...I think biosecurity is mostly a myth. My little flock is visited by so much wildlife it is silly. From crows to starlings, chickdees, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, doves, the sparrows that nest in a birdhouse near their night pen, the squirrels.....and this is in a suburban neighborhood!

Sure, you don't want to bring a sick bird in to a healthy flock, but most measures are just an illusion. Your best defense is a flock raised with plenty of room and sunshine, good feed, access to greens and bugs, and some common sense.

 

[NYREDS]

Me...I think biosecurity is mostly a myth. My little flock is visited by so much wildlife it is silly. From crows to starlings, chickdees, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, doves, the sparrows that nest in a birdhouse near their night pen, the squirrels.....and this is in a suburban neighborhood!
Sure, you don't want to bring a sick bird in to a healthy flock, but most measures are just an illusion. Your best defense is a flock raised with plenty of room and sunshine, good feed, access to greens and bugs, and some common sense.

Couldn't have said it better. I am always happy to show people my birds. I show & have for years. I don't quarantine after shows [ I do dust for mites before returning birds to pens. So far I have never experienced illness after a show. I don't think I'm especially lucky but I do know that my birds are well bred & well cared for.​

 

[Shared Acres]

At the pound they have a cat litter box with bleach water you dip your shoes in inbetween each building. A quick idea for you.

 

[AK Michelle]

I'm not a fanatic about biosecurity, as wildlife visits my home as well. But our fair has the large breeds the first week and the bantams the second. This means I will be putting my millies in a cage that was recently vacated by others. Is there anything I can take to spray or wipe the wire cage before I put them in to minimize a bit of risk or is that just a crazy thought?