Question for those with chickens

[karrie]

I'm interested in trying them ( still have to talk dh into it so at research stage only right now).

 

But after reading about the bird flu lately, I'm wondering ya'lls take on it and if you yourself plan to stay with chickens and if so have you formulated any plans for prevention etc. Thanks for your input.

[juliepoudrier]

I will not be getting rid of my chickens unless I am forced to by the "guv'mint." I subscribe to the scrupulous cleanliness theory of animal husbandry, and I think that gives my flock a "step up" when it comes to disease exposure. I read recently that one of the recommendations to protect against bird flu was to keep birds covered (presumably to protect them from droppings from infected birds passing over). Although my chickens are allowed to free range when I'm home and the dogs can be out in the yard with them, because of losses to hawks, they are now spending more time in their pen, which does have a solid roof over it. I clean the pen out daily and make sure that they always have clean, fresh water and a variety of food (veggies and fruits and the like in addition to their regular chicken feed). I think this promotes a healthy, low-stress population in general, which should be an advantage should they be exposed to bird flu or any other disease.

 

That said, if I have a bird die unexpectedly, I would probably send it to the state vet for examination rather than just disposing of it, as I would have done in the past.

 

As for my own health, I always wash my hands after handing birds or cleaning their pen/house. Just standard good hygeine. If I hear there are other things I should be doing, then of course I will change my way of doing things to include the latest information.

 

J.

[toney]

I raise and purchase a LOT of exhibition birds for FFA and 4-H members each year. I am still doing so, but most of our birds are raised in enclosed chicken coops or cages, so exposure to outside birds is kept to a minimum. I also do a big unit on Avian Flu transmission and its spread across Europe, so I keep up with the latest advisories and what each country is suggesting, as well. AS Julie suggested, good hygiene, both in terms of animals and humans, is always a good idea. Dead wild birds around my area are not Avian Flu victims, rather they are victims of West Nile.

[juliepoudrier]

Toney,

Do you have a source for "old-style" (for lack of a better word) Sebrights? I bought mine some years ago at a poultry show and would like to get more. Unfortunately, all that I see are *much larger* than my present stock (like twice as big). I'm guessing the trend is for larger birds as both sources I went to had what was supposed to be show stock (and my originals were from show stock). Any ideas on where to find the older, smaller Sebrights?

 

P.S. To clarify, by dead birds I meant dead chickens. I haven't found any dead songbirds since I've been here, but if I did, my first thought would be West Nile as well. I don't think I'd be sending every dead bird I happen upon to the state lab (but you never know)!

 

 

J.

[toney]

Julie, I sent tou an email.

 

Terry Toney

[Bill Fosher]

I have been chicken-less for about three years, and really miss good eggs. And for some reason, my otherwise sainted and long-suffering wife seems to prefer chicken meat to lamb. So we were going to be getting back into the chicken scene this year. But I have to admit that avian flu has caused me to wonder if it wouldn't be better to wait another year.

 

My sister is involved in emergency planning, and she tells me that H5N1 really has the potential to kill millions of humans if it gets enough chances to mutate to the point where it can be transmitted from human to human. She is not a Chicken Little, if you'll pardon the reference.

 

At a minimum, you should ensure that your chickens can be confined under cover to reduce the possibility of contact with migratory wild birds. Personally, that's not really how I wanted to keep chickens. I like the idea of them scratching around in the woods. But my sister says that basically you can still do that as long as you can confine them on short notice.

[Pipedream Farm]

Originally posted by Bill Fosher:

My sister is involved in emergency planning, and she tells me that H5N1 really has the potential to kill millions of humans if it gets enough chances to mutate to the point where it can be transmitted from human to human. She is not a Chicken Little, if you'll pardon the reference.

Bill there are a lot of ifs in the mutation of H5N1. I keep up on it because the person sitting next to me in my office is involved with developing Flu tests. Based upon what I read and what she tells me, this strain will likely mutate (all flu strains do every year) and eventually become human transmissible (birds were the source of all human flu strains); the difficulty is predicting the virility, mode of human-human transmission, and the transmissibility. Because of this agencies, medical personnel, and scientists are preparing for the worst-case scenario.

 

Mark