HEADS UP AVIAN INFLUENZA ALERT

[enola]

One bird on your PROPERTY will get all of your birds destroyed, no matter how many 'separate' flocks the farm maintains.

Biosecurity is every flock owner's best friend! And prayer!

 

[chicken pickin]

My signs arrived today

My coop tends to attract lookie loos

Can I ask where you got this sign? Its a good idea to post one near poultry areas.

Luckily I don't have "lookie loos" as you call them lol but we do get occasional solicitors and unfortunately some customers arrive that cant grasp my no walking the property rule

I make all customers park and wait at the bottom of my driveway and they can come no further. I have had people hint that they feel Im hiding something because I dont allow people to walk around and look at them. If they dont like it I say that is fine and be on your way. I even once had a odd man bring his flock of chickens with him in a cage to come pick up a pullet I had for sale. It was so strange, then he pulled the cage out of his car and put them on my driveway, they were pooping everywhere boy was I mad, made him promptly put them back sold him the pullet and sent him on his way. Bleached the driveway as soon as he left. Some people just don't get the severity of poultry diseases.

So many times I have considered not selling any more. Or maybe have a meeting spot off my property.

 

[WthrLady]

I made them at vista print. http://www.vistaprint.com

 

[chicken pickin]

I made them at vista print. http://www.vistaprint.com

Very cool. Thank You I will try to see what I can come up with.

 

[WthrLady]

I then mounted them to a painted piece of plywood and some 2x2 stakes. I have one at the end of the drive, the end of my service road, and then one down closer to the barn. All by No Trespassing signs too.

If you enter "chicken" into the vistaprint search box, you can see many different styles and you can add whatever words you want, ignore the company and address and phone numbers prompts.

Also, most come in other colors. Have fun and good luck.

 

[chicken pickin]

I then mounted them to a painted piece of plywood and some 2x2 stakes. I have one at the end of the drive, the end of my service road, and then one down closer to the barn. All by No Trespassing signs too.

If you enter "chicken" into the vistaprint search box, you can see many different styles and you can add whatever words you want, ignore the company and address and phone numbers prompts.

Also, most come in other colors. Have fun and good luck.

Thanks!

 

[jerseygirl1]

That doesn't sound right. Look at the stats on the USDA site. There aren't that many. Just a handful of backyard flocks and although a few were pretty large, they don't total that many birds.

7200 birds = 17 backyard flocks is over 400 birds per flock - maybe that is not considered large enough to be commercial. But heck, my backyard flock is 12 right now. At 400 birds, my neighbors would haul me away

 

[thegawd]

I have about 300 in my backyard flock including all the chicks, pullets and cockerals... but there not all chickens. However that huge number comes from a massive flock of phesants...

AL

 

[Allisha]

We have a flock of nearly 50 chicks, and a beloved parrot, so this has me worried. I live quite a distance from the nearest outbreak, so I KNOW it's not here. It's circulating in the news that Egg Production is decreasing drastically, and they are thinking of bringing in eggs over seas, from Europe. My hens should produce up to 12 dozen eggs a week, so I should be all set. But how does this affect Backyarder's prices for eggs? Should we raise our prices?

 

[BYC Member]

I will have to find the link that said backyard poultry has not been affected by this.....

I think it says something different. The article you referenced says "it's largely leaving backyard flocks unscathed". And that sentence links to another article by USAToday that says "bird flu outbreak mostly spares backyard chickens".

I just lost a bird and I am not sure why. There were no symptoms until just at the end, like, within an hour. On Tuesday she was fine -- laid an egg in the morning. On Wednesday she did not lay an egg. That is unusual for her but it occasionally happens. Thursday I noticed something wrong around 9:30am. She was laying down with her head on the ground, eyes closed and panting. I picked her up and put her in the coup. She just stood in one place, not moving, with her eyes closed, panting. By 10am she was dead. She showed none of the other symptoms of bird flu. Whatever killed her was really fast. I cannot say it was bird flu, and I cannot rule it out, either. I can only watch our other 5 birds and see if they stay ok.

The worst part -- that last egg, the one she laid on Tuesday -- it was used to make mayonnaise. I noticed the white of the egg was more watery than normal but did not think much about it. That mayo was used in 2 sandwiches which were consumer before the bird died. Cooked poultry does not transmit bird flu. Mayo is made with raw egg. So now we wait.