Avian flu

[Tweetypie]

I just read on a Facebook forum that due to avian flu rearing it's ugly head again, all our hens/birds have to be kept kept in a covered enclosure or coop. How are we all dealing with this? 05 19

 

[Margaid]

It comes into effect on 14th December

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/avian-influenza-bird-flu-national-prevention-zone-declared

This is the really important paragraph which shows you don't have to keep them "indoors" but prevent contact with wild birds.
This is where a roofed run comes into its' own. There are probably threads on this forum from the last time this happened.

 

[dianefairhall]

I'd be obliged for some advice, please. My 3 girls live in an Eglu Classic with a 2 metre run. They are never shut in except at night and they free range every day and have done so since they arrived in October last year. I was hoping that the 'hen lockdown' wouldn't happen in Scotland as we don't have avian flu here that I know of. If anyone could point me in the direction of previous threads that would be useful.

 

[Hen-Gen]

Well it’s a pain because hens really enjoy free ranging but needs must. I have a run that is about twenty foot by twelve foot but it is unroofed. So it’s confined to barracks for them. Each shed is thirteen foot by twelve foot. One has a cockerel with nine hens and the other has a cockerel with two hens.
So the more populous shed is 156sqft with ten birds which equals 15sqft per bird. I wouldn’t keep them for ever like this so hopefully it will be over soon.
Having said that despite this island teeming with wild grey lag geese I bet I’m the only person who complies with it. For most, hens are cheap and easily replaced. For me they go back eight or nine generations of selective breeding and would be irreplaceable.

 

[Marigold]

There’s already a thread about bird flu 2020-2021, so to keep things in one place I’m going to lock this one and send people to http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=11245 where there are more details and some previous posts. Thank you.