Should we be concerned about the eastern songbird epidemic?

[doughouse]

I recently learned that there is a mysterious songbird epidemic in the south and Mid-Atlantic, and it's spreading up into the northeast. I live in Massachusetts and out state is being advised to take down our bird feeders to help curb the spread.

More info here: https://www.audubon.org/news/scientists-still-searching-pathogen-behind-easts-songbird-epidemic

Is anyone taking precautions with their flocks? I'm considering keeping them in the coop and run and not letting them free range anymore until this is resolved.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I recently learned that there is a mysterious songbird epidemic in the south and Mid-Atlantic, and it's spreading up into the northeast. I live in Massachusetts and out state is being advised to take down our bird feeders to help curb the spread.

More info here: https://www.audubon.org/news/scientists-still-searching-pathogen-behind-easts-songbird-epidemic

Is anyone taking precautions with their flocks? I'm considering keeping them in the coop and run and not letting them free range anymore until this is resolved.

We're not the feeding the wild birds because of this.
It has spread to Ohio, which is pretty close to Michigan.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

There is no way to know if we should be concerned till the cause is determined.
That said, it is always better to err on the cautionary side.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Same precaution as always. I don't place wild bird feeders in my pasture, and am somewhat selective about planting greens that are more attractive to wild birds than to chickens. Some wild bird activity is unavoidable, its a risk of free ranging - but until the pathogen is known, and how its transmitted, anything else is just guesswork. All the caging and run restrictions in the world won't help you if mosquitoes are a transmission vector...

 

[U_Stormcrow]

At least AI, Newcastle, Salmonella, and West Nile have been eliminated, and it sounds like they are pretty confident its not MG - or at least, not one of the common MGs known to infect checkens, or it would have been readily identified by now in the initial testing. Also, we'd expect reports of chicken deaths - particularly from backyard owners who started their flocks during Covid last year, and are more likely to have nearby wild bird feeders out the back window somewhere.

The outbreak on the West Coast (now closed) had me more concerned it might spread.