How Are You Covering Your Chicken Run for Avian Influenza?

[Weeg]

I am not familiar with your run, but we made a roof for our run using welded wire and covered it with a tarp. I was thinking of using shade cloth on the outside. I've got a ton of it.

I'm fortunate to be out of the hot zones so far, but all of this is good info for when it gets here.

If (when) it does come here, we have 3 possible plans. 1 - put chickens in the garage. 2 - build a big hoop coop run, add hardware cloth up the sides and on the front, and cover the rest with a tarp. 3 - cover their current run with offset netting and/or shade cloth.

I will read all the threads/articles linked above, too. Wanna be prepared...

Our run is pretty flimsy, simply hog panels formed into a circle with a support in the center to hold up netting. That’s why it’s a last resort to tarp off.
I’m interested to do some more reading too. I considered a hoop coop, though if e were oils get complicated with the length of 2x4s we would need.
I love everyone’s ideas, currently trying to figure out how to wire/wall in a carport we have…

 

[DonyaQuick]

I've been using a plastic tarp over the top of my run extension and bird netting on the sides. I don't remember when exactly I put the tarp up...January I think? Anyway, I'm already seeing thinning areas in the tarp (bright spots visible from underneath when it's sunny) that will eventually become holes. So far there is no water dripping through those areas when it rains so it would still keep poop out but I may need to replace it sooner than I thought.

Simply netting isn't much/any protection from Avian Influenza.

A relevant thing I learned last week about using bird netting: while Penn State said it was better than nothing to at least keep wild birds out of feed and out of direct contact, there is a flip side. If a bird finds a way in through a gap (like where there's a door latch that can't be covered in netting), it will be in there potentially a lot longer than it would otherwise because the netting then becomes a barrier to escape. Had this experience last week with my run extension and a dark eyed junco.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Mine are covered with plastic ontop of mesh id love to do that with all my coops but cant afford it right now so only ones i care about most are covered lol

 

[Weeg]

A relevant thing I learned last week about using bird netting: while Penn State said it was better than nothing to at least keep wild birds out of feed and out of direct contact, there is a flip side. If a bird finds a way in through a gap (like where there's a door latch that can't be covered in netting), it will be in there potentially a lot longer than it would otherwise because the netting then becomes a barrier to escape. Had this experience last week with my run extension and a dark eyed junco.

This is a good post. 100% agreed.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I was just out looking at my setup, trying to figure out if netting would work over my chicken yard (they have a large dog kennel run with a solid roof, so no huge problem there). I think it would, if it was really fastened to my current fence, which is electric netting with aviary netting - sounds a lot like yours, @Weeg. I'd have to wrap it all the way around with the smaller netting, like the kind they use over fruit trees. I have to attach it in lots of places to make sure it is offset from the existing netting. Maybe that green garden fencing around and the tree netting over the top with some extra supports. They sell extra posts at tsc for, like, $2.

Maybe.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Is the state of Maine affected by this?

 

[Weeg]

Is the state of Maine affected by this?

Yes.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...pai-2022/2022-hpai-commercial-backyard-flocks

 

[avjudge]

Is the state of Maine affected by this?

Definitely. Two of the earlier backyard flocks to be affected were in Knox County back in February, and when I looked a week or two ago two more flocks in (I think) Lincoln and York Counties had been culled.

Edit to add: Thanks @Weeg for the link. Yikes! Lots of infected flocks since I checked. Still nothing in Oxford (my neighbor to the east) or north of Rockingham in NH - so it seems to be concentrated relatively close to the coast. For now.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm in CA, so we've managed to avoid it so far, but it was found on British Columbia, and I see it's in Wyoming, too, so it's getting closer. And Sounthern CA just dealt with Newcastle not too long ago. It sucks. It all sucks.

 

[Weeg]

I'm in CA, so we've managed to avoid it so far, but it was found on British Columbia, and I see it's in Wyoming, too, so it's getting closer. And Sounthern CA just dealt with Newcastle not too long ago. It sucks. It all sucks.

It is terrifying. I'm so nervous about the BC cases, we are very very close to that area, and it would not be hard for an infected bird to go from BC to our location very quickly. Luckily we don't have much waterfowl traffic here, but we do have raptors, and plenty of song birds.