I too have a large investment in my birds, but I also have a degree in microbiology and I know for certain that there are only so many precautions that you can take. Microbes are going to find their way into your flock no matter what you do. To expect to be able to eradicate viral and bacterial infectious agents from poultry kind is like thinking that the CDC could actually eradicate the flu virus. Its a fantasy that health organizations feed the public to keep us from panicking. Anthropologically speaking, bacteria and viruses are our evolutionary bedmates: we couldn't have made it without them.
I deal a lot with this with my ecology friends. Perfect example: Purple loosestrife. When you walk into a field which contains purple loosestrife, do you feel like there is a lack of biodiversity? No, of course not. Now, when you walk up to a forest covered with kudzu (because you certainly cant walk INTO one), you definitely notice a loss of biodiversity. You have got to fight the good fight. And you've got to fight it in such a way as to keep your sanity.
I am NPIP approved, thank you very much, and when my NPIP worker was leaving (and I value his viewpoint because this is a person who sees and deals with infectious diseases every day), he actually told me not to worry about exposure to ILT at poultry shows because once the virus is bottled up inside a chicken, it is passed on in a much milder form than it can be picked up from the wild (and this is true for a lot of viruses) and mortality is much lower, plus it gives your chickens immunity. And until the recombinant vaccine is made more readily available, this is the best we have.
What I am trying to get at is that I want to keep my chickens healthy, but I also have a healthy understanding of evolution and I know that there is no overhead netting that is going to stop a heron or a loon or an osprey from flying overhead and pooping some unknown agent into my pen. Or that is going to stop an earthworm or a cockroach from eating said poop and then making its way into my quardonned-off pen and allowing one of my chickens to eat it. There is also no way (while keeping your sanity) to keep a fox or an opossum or a freakin' dingo from taking a crap next to one of my pens right before it rains and then the rain washing whatever infectious agent said canine was carrying, right into my pen where my chickens can drink from a puddle that once was fox poo.
Basically, I get tested, I bleach my waterers and feeders (no stronger than 10%), I only use antibiotics and anthelmintics when absolutely necessary, I treat my pond for bacteria and parasites, I shake my fist at the wading birds when they're in my yard and I QUARANTINE ALL NEW BIRDS FOR AT LEAST 90 DAYS. Plus, I have a full working knowledge of and am set up for level 2 safety procedures for JIC we have an outbreak. I observe my birds closely and I know the normal demeanor, carriage and overall look of each one (I have over 100 and that's where an eidetic memory comes in handy) and I quarantine at the first sign of illness. I also make it a habit of feeding my youngest birds first, then my breeders, then my free range flock and I lysol my shoes after I am done, this is a really easy way of containing the spread of even something as simple as coccidia to your most fragile and/or important birds.
I don't mean to belittle your biosecurity practices or to dissuade you from them, you've got to find your happy place on your own. I'm just thankful that I live in a state which has a more realistic view of backyard poultry safety and the spread of infectious agents. Its like the Buddha said: It is not practical for everyone to follow the One True Path, out of necessity we all make our own path to the best of our means. (I didn't add quotes because I'm not sure that he put it exactly that way; I'm forced to paraphrase, but you get my gist).
Last edited by a moderator:
