HEADS UP AVIAN INFLUENZA ALERT

[applebutter14]

does anybody know if the bird flu is in Iowa?

 

[MrsBachbach]

Why is it believed that commercial poultry farms have higher biosecurity than smaller chicken keepers... I'd think it would be the other way around. Surely it's easier for me with 13 chickens to keep a better/safer biosecure environment, right?

Probably because the birds are kept under lock and key, fed specially made diets, have enclosed watering systems, practice all in /all out raising and do deep cleanings in between flocks. They have vaccination programs, rodent and bird control, etc., etc. I'm sure there may be some smaller operations that don't have such strict measures, but growers around here have to comply with company standards. They are checked on regulary.

Possibly. The one thing I think is sure in a small backyard flock is the chance of mutation of the virus is next to nothing.

 

[teanelly]

Probably because the birds are kept under lock and key, fed specially made diets, have enclosed watering systems, practice all in /all out raising and do deep cleanings in between flocks. They have vaccination programs, rodent and bird control, etc., etc. I'm sure there may be some smaller operations that don't have such strict measures, but growers around here have to comply with company standards. They are checked on regulary.

Ah I see.

 

[chicknmania]

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.

Thats a good point. Or several. That's what I want to know, if what is happening to the little backyard quys. If you look at the chart, and figure there are thousands of backyard flocks, really very few of record are being affected. I read and heard that they compost the birds that they cull. I don't know if they compost the infected birds too, but really...compost? Back into the loop the virus goes....you would think, anyway.

 

[chicknmania]

Does anyone have advice on taking preventative measures against this?

Well, we are bringing our birds under roof (not outside at all) if documented cases of the virus get within a few hundred miles. And leaving them inside til there are no more documented cases within a few hundred miles. It's already been said to make sure you have shoes just for wearing into the bird's living quarters and/ or dip your shoes in Oxine on entering. Vehicles are a problem. Wash the vehicles regularly and spray tires with oxine solution. Keep wild birds away. Pray.

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.

That's what I wonder too. I don't believe that chickens and peafowl and wild birds cannot develop immunity to this, when apparently waterfowl develop a sort of immunity?

 

[chicknmania]

Keep your water sanitized and birds in peak condition would be about all we can do, other than locking them up tight which is impractical for most of us. Happy, stress free birds are healthy birds. Hopefully. Keep visitors off the farm and keep an extra pair of shoes in the car to change into when going out anywhere? Hope you don't get visited by waterfowl? I have concerns because a turkey farm is down the road and neighbor fertilizes his fields every year with turkey litter, twice a year. Idk, it was never my intention to keep birds penned up when I started my chicken venture, so I'm not set up to do so. I will do what I can to keep birds away from the feeders and keep the water sanitized, but beyond that it's

I just dread bringing out birds in. WE are going to try, but it will be a nightmare for them. They so want to go outside when it's nice out.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Well, we are bringing our birds under roof (not outside at all) if documented cases of the virus get within a few hundred miles.  And leaving them inside til there are no more documented cases within a few hundred miles.  It's already been said to make sure you have shoes just for wearing into the bird's living quarters and/ or dip your shoes in Oxine on entering.  Vehicles are a problem.  Wash the vehicles regularly and spray tires with oxine solution.  Keep wild birds away. Pray.
That's what I wonder too.  I don't believe that chickens and peafowl and wild birds cannot develop immunity to this, when apparently waterfowl develop a sort of immunity?

Well from what I have read, bird flu has been around forever, but it is a low pathogenic variety that has been present here. I imagine many birds have developed an immunity or resistance to the low path type. A bird is still a carrier when it recovers though. It's this new high pathogenic strain that is new to the area that is the new threat. It's a concern to humans because if it mutates (higher probability in dense poultry houses) it could mutate to a strain that may affect humans. That's the reason for the great culling. They don't want it to mutate. Otherwise, just confine the spread and hope most of the flock survives, right?

 

[chicknmania]

Oh, I see.

 

[chicknmania]

does anybody know if the bird flu is in Iowa?

yes, it was last documented in Iowa. Des Moines. Large chicken farm and all were culled. Just a couple of days ago

 

[enola]

To try to bring the avian flu into perspective, let's use the example of the Native Americans and the Europeans......

When the Europeans sailed to what is now USA, they brought with them the measels. The Europeans would recover from cases of the measels, but the measels nearly decimated the Native Indian tribes.

This is roughly the same with wild birds and how quickly the Avian Flu spreads through the domestic birds. I know this a rough generalization, but it may help some in understanding how the avian flu works.