HEADS UP AVIAN INFLUENZA ALERT

[chicknmania]

The single biggest thing small flock owners can do is have a pair of shoes/boots that you wear ONLY in the chicken house. Don't wear your shoes to the feed store and then walk into your hen house.

Stay away from other flocks of chickens, chicken swaps and chicken shows.

Don't let any one near your chickens!

Yes. And we will put an Oxine dip by the door too. Hopefully we won't have to get that far. but I got a whole gallon of Oxine waiting.

 

[MrsBachbach]

 You guys keep in mind, the infected commercial flocks are kept "under roof" to. Confinement, obviously, is not preventing the infection of flocks of poultry.

Yeah, that's the strange thing. I think they need to check the feed or the trucks that come on the farm.

 

[WalnutHill]

**deleted**

 

[chicknmania]

Think I read somewhere that now they are thinking it is airborne. Which would make sense, considering how fast it spreads, once it's in a flock. Media is busy spreading fear that it might mutate.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I still think it's the feed. Surely they disinfect the water. These commercial operations have very high bio security measures yet they are the ones getting hit the most.
How are the backyard flocks around these infected commercial flocks faring? If it was indeed airborne, would they also not be hit?
I wonder exactly how many birds are found infected in these operations. I know if they even find one, the whole operation is culled, so numbers can be deceiving. Their concern is rapid transmission because of the density of birds in such operations and more concerning how quickly something can mutate when there are such large numbers involved. The risk of mutation is low in sparsely populated backyard flocks although spread very likely is just as easy.
My other concern is what is being done with infected carcasses? Are they being processed into the food chain? Pet foods? More concerning is what is happening to the litter in these operations? By products, from what I have read, includes chicken litter. My dog seems to love chicken poop, ugh. More worrying is farmers use chicken and turkey litter to spread on fields to fertilize ground. That is definitely a method of spread right there. What is happening to the litter? Because that is a bunch of poop to dispose of.

 

[enola]

The carcasses are probably incinerated. They are not put into the "food chain".
The litter is also destroyed. The entire building is thoroughly disinfected and then sets empty.
I am curious how you think the feed could be carrying the virus???

 

[MrsBachbach]

The carcasses are probably incinerated. They are not put into the "food chain".
The litter is also destroyed. The entire building is thoroughly disinfected and then sets empty.
I am curious how you think the feed could be carrying the virus???

Maybe here they are incinerated, I'm not so sure what they do in other countries. Manufacturers receive alot of ingredients from outside this country.

Well, I'm sure wheat and corn fields are visited regularly by birds of all types. How biosecure is the manufacturing process? Are feathers and such still used in poultry meal? At one point in time, everything from feet to eggs were used in commercial feed. I'm not sure if that practice is totally gone and everything in commercial feed is plant based or not.

Have you read this article? Long, but interesting.

http://www.grain.org/article/entrie...ndustry-s-central-role-in-the-bird-flu-crisis

 

[enola]

No, I have not read that article. It was published in 2006.

If the feed is carrying the virus, then wouldn't everyone's poultry be getting infected?????

 

[teanelly]

Does anyone have advice on taking preventative measures against this?

 

[MrsBachbach]

No, I have not read that article. It was published in 2006.

If the feed is carrying the virus, then wouldn't everyone's poultry be getting infected?????

Need to read the whole article. Commercial growers make their own feed generally. At least I know of one company that has it's own mills.
Article also makes interesting point in genetic diversity. How genetically diverse are commercial poultry operations? My guess is not very since they were carefully bred for weight gain and egg laying ability.