How are you preventing Avian Flu in your flock?

[K0k0shka]

What I'm wondering is... how tight are the places that make chicken feed and wild bird feed?

They don’t have any actual birds on the premises, so I would imagine they are the same as any other manufacturing plant.

 

[BesideStillWaters]

They don’t have any actual birds on the premises, so I would imagine they are the same as any other manufacturing plant.

They may not have actual birds on the premise, but all it takes is one employee who has a flock with the virus, doesn't follow safety protocols, and transmits it to the feed. (I'm quite paranoid, forgive me. )

 

[Sueby]

So I guess I found what the call was about - what do y'all make of this? Backyard mixed species, non poultry? ETA: this is HPAI.

 

[Sueby]

A link to the article, the more I see the more it seems like a large (100) backyard flock was culled.
https://portal.ct.gov/DOAG/Press-Ro...F9yisqWNkxPSHunIPQOUst7HyTIJxMs2HcRbcxbIToADg

 

[Nellzmom]

So I guess I found what the call was about - what do y'all make of this? Backyard mixed species, non poultry? ETA: this is HPAI.View attachment 3017647

I’m curious how they knew to call you?

 

[Sueby]

I’m curious how they knew to call you?

I purchased day olds thru the mail last fall - that has to be registered with the CT Dept of Ag so they must keep a list of bird owners.

 

[igorsMistress]

What I'm wondering is... how tight are the places that make chicken feed and wild bird feed?

This is a very good question. Based on my experience living near a Kruse plant for many years, not very. My husband and his friend used to trap pigeons for them and it was insane how many they’d get. Plus consider the grain has to travel, has been in a field, etc.

There’s only so much you can do short of not keeping backyard chickens/ducks/etc

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm still wondering what is "Backyard Mixed Species Non-Poultry"? Parrots? Parakeets? Hummingbirds? Ibis?

 

[Iluveggers]

Backyard “nonpoultry” can include our definition of poultry. The international definition of poultry is birds raised for sale & consumption purposes or something to that effect.

Mixed species could be chickens, geese, ducks, quail, or any other bird all kept in one area.

 

[K0k0shka]

They may not have actual birds on the premise, but all it takes is one employee who has a flock with the virus, doesn't follow safety protocols, and transmits it to the feed. (I'm quite paranoid, forgive me. )

Yeah but the employees who work there are just people who have a job. They aren't more likely to have their own chickens, just because they work there. Unless it's a small local farm that produces feed and also raises chickens, if it's a processing plant like the ones where the big brands produce their feed, then the employees are no more or less likely to have chickens than the employees of any other establishment. They are just workers. Your grocery store is probably just as likely to have employees who happen to have a flock, and they don't do foot baths when they go to work. If you get your feed from a local mill that also happens to be on a farm that also happens to have chickens, and if the same workers tend to the chickens AND work the feed processing equipment (very unlikely) as opposed to come in to work on the feed specifically, then yeah maybe there's a risk. But if you're buying Purina, Nutrena, Dumor, etc. other big brands that have designated processing plants with no live animals on site, then you have nothing more to worry about than buying/ordering from the grocery store.