Let’s Talk About Bird Flu

[Crazy Maizie]

I'm of the complete opposite mindset. I never intended to confine my birds, I have wild birds all over the place. I provide bird baths around the property. I'm not raising production birds, I'm raising heritage birds so they're supposed to be multi-purposed and I accept the risks of doing so.

I don't have any issue with people who confine their birds as long as they give them adequte space, but I'm raising them so that I can breed them for hardy traits.

The other thing is, if I didn't have bird baths and feed out, I'd have my pond finished. My neighbor has a much larger pond so we're always going to have wildlife.

Sometimes a lot of this sound like eco-horror anyone remember that show The Monsters Inside Me? After watching that who would want to go camping or live on a farm?

If there's any horror it's found in the mass production.

I have to confine when I'm not out there as we have foxes that have learned where my birds are and I've lost a few ducks. We're in a pretty open area between two fields - so also easy to spot prey for hawks. I don't have them free range full time due to predators. I'll be out doing yard work soon and I will most likely let them out. My husband says that I need to remember that they are livestock, but my heart hurts too much when I lose one.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

What I'm most worried about with the wild birds and mice is what I learned today. I've got an ailing girl with mites and they got on me when I was trying to feed her and so it begins!

Yeah, ew. pests are diabolical.

 

[Goosebaby]

I can't believe my eyes, an article on natural immunity!

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-...nx-s1-5312998/bird-flu-h5n1-immunity-pandemic

Of course they couldn't totally refrain from drumming up potential fear by omitting the very facts on 50% mortality rates in humans which they cite from other studies.

Why not just show the number? They think I'm not smart enough to click the link and read about the actual incredibly low number of deaths relegated mostly to Asia over decades.

To be fair the article stated that the 50% rate is likely an overestimate because milder cases were likely overlooked. As it is disease monitoring in some Asian countries is known to be difficult. Currently the virus does have the potential to create a human pandemic, but for now the main risk it poses is still mostly to birds.
The article is mostly a fluff piece to make the lay person aware of what’s going on so it is naturally lacking in fine details which is really annoying, however most people, especially in current times, have short attention spans so lengthy articles or hard numbers and statistics are going to make them lose interest quickly and not even bother reading it at all. Unfortunately because people demand information be compacted into impossibly short soundbites and social media posts journalistic integrity has to be sacrificed to stay “relevant.” NPR isn’t going to have the necessary attention to detail as APHIS or pubmed in their articles because the aim isn’t hard facts, just giving their readers the “gist of it.”
So you can choose to look at an article like this as drumming up fear but you can also choose to look at it as just an advisory of the potential that bird flu has but also some of it’s potential limitations preventing it from becoming a human pandemic.

On a side note on the theme of bird flu associated fear some of it is warranted, some of it isn’t. Those of us with birds that fear it have a legitimate reason, it is devastating backyard and commercial flocks. For those that fear it being used as a tool for govt. overreach, well the potential is there so I won’t say that isn’t entirely overreacting considering England’s response to wanting everyone to register their birds. However it’s important to also put into perspective how effective enforcing something like that even is if that should become a thing in other places. I know I’m straying dangerously close to politics which really has no place in this subject but I will say that this isn’t a left, right, or center issue, poultry fanciers and commercial flock producers come from every background so it’s all of our responsibility to push back on bills that aim to over regulate ownership of chickens, ducks, etc, but it’s also our personal responsibility to educate ourselves and to be aware of health risks to our flocks and ourselves and react in an appropriate manner and not allow political posturing distract us from proper animal husbandry.

Disease management and zoonotic disease monitoring and reporting is nothing new to any form of livestock farming or hobbyists, and all forms of agriculture in general, it’s just a way of life for all of us in one form or another. It’s an important a tool at our disposal. Reporting on disease outbreaks are frightening because of the potential impacts but we shouldn’t be angry at the act of reporting it. No one can determine how individuals choose to feel about it personally but it exists for a reason, to educate. If people decide to panic over it, that’s on them. For me personally I’d rather be made aware of potential risks even if it makes my life more difficult rather than hope willful ignorance is enough to make it go away and not affect my animals or trees. If bird flu is in my area, I want to know about it. If mereks is in my area, I want to know about it. If blister rust is spotted somewhere in my area, I want to know about it and so do some of my neighbors.

 

[Goosebaby]

What I'm most worried about with the wild birds and mice is what I learned today. I've got an ailing girl with mites and they got on me when I was trying to feed her and so it begins!

Mice and rats are not tolerated in my yard, it wouldn’t surprise me is if cattle got the new variant from rodents who were scavenging dead birds and then left droppings all through the feed.

 

[alwaystj9]

As my area has gone from real country to mini estates/subdivisions the Canadian Goose population/problem has skyrocketed. Seems like everyone who buys a lot clearcuts it & then builds a pond. Then a pair of geese move in. Never saw geese until neighbor dug a pond, now they fly over 2Xday and more around during migration times. I have netted runs and hawk-safe areas for my chickens but they also have pasture access most of each day. I feed in a controlled manner plus have LGDs roaming so almost no rodents and few birds landing but I do worry about the geese.

 

[AGeese]

While I was at my vet I asked about AI and he said if he tests for it they are required to report it. If they report it, the state may take over at that point, not sure there is any choice in the matter.

Everyone should check with their DNR so there are no surprises when they come to cull your pet flock.

 

[2 Acres]

I've learned that while the risk of songbirds spreading the disease to backyard flocks is fairly low, it's better safe than sorry when it comes to feeding wild birds. You don't have to take your feeders down, if you're able to hang them well away from your flock, and deep clean them weekly. Same goes for bird baths.

Wild waterfowl are the most likely to spread HPAI.

Here you can see detections of HPAI by category (commercial and backyard flocks, wild birds, mammals, and livestock) and by state. Here's an example for Michigan.
View attachment 4038433

I get none of my information from the media, and all of it from here and official websites like the one linked above. And that's the best advice I can give. Any information that you get not directly from an official source, FACT CHECK!

Well... The 2 counties in Ohio are fairly close to me.

I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing. I have a pretty good system going

We stopped feeding the wild song birds two months before acquiring chickens. We also turned over the bird baths and no longer fill them which I feel bad about since rain is scarce around here and there is so much destruction of trees and scrub due to new housing construction. Additionally, we have black vultures who circle the yard daily and a hawk that frequents the area that used to drink from the bird bath a year ago. Even with these precautions there are many Cardinals, a cat bird, wrens, finches and other song birds in the yard all the time. There are not many treed lots left in this neighborhood and we have trees and shrubbery which they roost and nest in. The wild birds have also taken a liking to visiting the open air compost pile. When I find wild bird poop in the yard, I try to pick it up with the pooper scooper. They are all just trying to survive.
We are limiting free range time which does not bode well with the girls. The wildlife volume will diminish once migration season is over but I'm concerned we'll never be rid of the vultures - we had 9 all around in the trees and circling, eyeing the girls the other afternoon and my hubby panicked and said "they have to go in NOW". He was standing right next to them holding a 6 foot stick like he was ready for battle, lol. I don't know if vultures are carriers or not but I'm assuming all wild birds are suspect. Working hard to manage the balance.

Vultures are not a "bird of prey" they eat other dead prey. However... I take a precautionary effort to scare off vultures, if I see one. A shotgun with blank cartridges. Same goes for a bird of prey also

 

[Molpet]

Vultures are not a "bird of prey"

Black vulture have been killing enough that my state has a system for them.
https://www.ilfb.org/resources/farmer-rural-resources/livestock/black-vulture-depredation-permits/

 

[AntiqueB]

From what I read, black vultures are more attracted to afterbirth, which can lead them to newborn animals. It doesn't seem they dive to attack healthy chickens.