- Mar 25, 2007
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Yikes, all the comments about how chickens should be outlawed because of bird flu. Hey, the #1 undisputed transmitter of ALL strains of human flu viruses to date has been...wait for it...HUMANS! Specifically, little kids who don't wash their hands and adults who come to work sick. Yet I'm sure if USA Today published an article about how to reduce the spread of flu by means of legally forcing all employers to give unlimited sick days, there would be a zillion angry comments from managers and business owners about how public health is going to wreck their business and they can't afford to have sick employees keep their germs to themselves and so forth.
The state agriculture guy who inspects our chickens always says he never worries about small backyard flocks, because we might get a few chickens in from out of state perhaps once a year, usually pre-vaccinated at the hatchery, and when our birdies get sick or die we all freak out and call the vet or call the extension office for help because we notice when one of our birds has so much as a sniffle. He says the big poultry manufacturers get thousands of birds several times yearly, and can't track them all to notice when one gets sick or even dies--many birds have to die in a big messy pile before they'll take notice, and by then the infection is already established and spreading rapidly. If they happen to get a few dead chicks in a shipment, they don't care really, whereas we are on the phone with the hatchery, throwing a fit. He says that goes a long way towards keeping infections contained and alerting hatcheries to problems while they are still small ones.
Nice interview overall!
The state agriculture guy who inspects our chickens always says he never worries about small backyard flocks, because we might get a few chickens in from out of state perhaps once a year, usually pre-vaccinated at the hatchery, and when our birdies get sick or die we all freak out and call the vet or call the extension office for help because we notice when one of our birds has so much as a sniffle. He says the big poultry manufacturers get thousands of birds several times yearly, and can't track them all to notice when one gets sick or even dies--many birds have to die in a big messy pile before they'll take notice, and by then the infection is already established and spreading rapidly. If they happen to get a few dead chicks in a shipment, they don't care really, whereas we are on the phone with the hatchery, throwing a fit. He says that goes a long way towards keeping infections contained and alerting hatcheries to problems while they are still small ones.
Nice interview overall!
