[harmony]

There is a local farm come smallholding who have hens free ranging this just off the main A1 and the owner is a VET and all there geese are free & another one local who breeds ducks as well as selling duck eggs have them all loose why bother.
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Some people will choose to comply because that is what they are comfortable with and I am afraid others wont.


If you take the number of wild birds we have out there and the number of poultry, the vast majority of which I reckon is still free ranging, then the number of bird flu outbreaks there is huge difference between the potential and actual outbreaks at present. So, I think most people actually don't see a threat.


Highly aggravating for those who are worried and complying.

[ColinS]

the owner is a VET and all there geese are free

As it's geese what they are doing may be in line with the DEFRA regs :-

"There are certain species of bird – such as ostrich, captive wildfowl or geese, which are not normally housed – for which the housing steps outlined above may not be practicable. In such cases you should isolate their food and water from wild birds"

[Dave C]

Drove to the Cumbrian coast with work the other day, past 7 or 8 farms with small flocks of chickens free ranging !
Stopped to have my bait in a little village next to the allotments and noticed every hen was out !

What's going on!!!!!
Is it the lack of information being put out by Defra and the media (which is very poor because if I wasn't on forums I don't think I would know) or do people just not give a dam ?

[Penninehillbilly]

Lack of media info I think, this is about the only forum I see it discussed, apart from a Facebook page where there was a shortlived thread.

[Hevxxx99]

It is all pointless. The wild bird population isn't likely to die out or stop flying around pooping and it's unlikely that we will keep hens in until they do either.

My hens are in, but I strongly suspect I'm the only person in the area who is keeping them in.

The local wildlife sanctuary who also has poultry, pigeons and waterfowl as well as vast numbers of seagulls who come and go, haven't got theirs shut in - they are only feeding under cover and not taking in any ill birds.

[madchickenlady]

I confess to being frustrated by the number of local hen keepers still free ranging their flocks. I have ten hens and fifteen ducks all of which have been kept in since the start - poor ducks do get a bit confused watching their wild mates frolicking around in the pond as usual! I digress - there are a number of keepers by me with larger flocks still enjoying the great outdoors, I have thought about calling in and asking them if they are aware of the issue but I confess to being a little 'chicken'(!) about the reaction I might get.

[doganjo]

To be fair, I can see how difficult it could be to spread the word about keeping birds under cover.  Used to be that almost everyone took a daily newspaper and listened to the television news broadcast at 6.00 p.m.  Now the way information is spread is so diverse covering all the options is virtually impossible, especially targeting those whose main interest is tweeting (pun intended).

But not impossible - BBC News, Sky News, Facebook, Twitter.  We are told almost every word uttered by that maniac so I'm damned sure twitter wpuld have worked!

[harmony]

To be fair, I can see how difficult it could be to spread the word about keeping birds under cover.  Used to be that almost everyone took a daily newspaper and listened to the television news broadcast at 6.00 p.m.  Now the way information is spread is so diverse covering all the options is virtually impossible, especially targeting those whose main interest is tweeting (pun intended).

But not impossible - BBC News, Sky News, Facebook, Twitter.  We are told almost every word uttered by that maniac so I'm damned sure twitter wpuld have worked!

Maybe if Defra really wanted everyone to know they would be making more of an effort to contact everyone. We all buy feed so the feed merchants might be a good place to start.


Perhaps we are all attaching more importance to the issue than Defra  because they feel the level of publicity is enough. Given how many wild birds we have, how many poultry there are still running out and the actual number of cases it is hardly news breaking.

[mojocafa]

But not impossible - BBC News, Sky News, Facebook, Twitter.  We are told almost every word uttered by that maniac so I'm damned sure twitter wpuld have worked!
[/quote]

What maniac?

[ColinS]

We all buy feed so the feed merchants might be a good place to start.

Must say that my first bit of biosecurity in December was to lay in enough feed to last till early April as the feed merchants yard has to be a possible point of virus exchange.

[harmony]

We all buy feed so the feed merchants might be a good place to start.

Must say that my first bit of biosecurity in December was to lay in enough feed to last till early April as the feed merchants yard has to be a possible point of virus exchange.

I couldn't store food for the whole smallholding in 3 month batches I'm afraid.

[ColinS]

I found this article from FWI quite thought provoking:-
http://www.fwi.co.uk/poultry/surviving-bird-flu-one-duck-breeders-story.htm

Especially the comment "Don’t assume an outbreak will be on an outdoor unit; recent outbreaks have largely been confined to housed birds – no one knows quite how they are infected"

Although the article pre-dates the current outbreak the comment holds true this time. It seems we desperately need to know more about the exact mechanism of transmission.

[Marches Farmer]

Is there not also a theory (I must declare here that I failed my history O level) that there was a huge volcanic eruption which kept the sunlight away for a couple of years?  That coupled with the reduction in population after the Black Death would be bound to have a huge impact.

Possibly the eruption of Krakatoa?

[ColinS]

I couldn't store food for the whole smallholding in 3 month batches I'm afraid.

Kid's bedrooms are basically clothes silos - you could convert them to combined clothes/grain silos while they are out - they will never notice so long as the clothes are on top.

Chance of them blocking the vac with the grain? - are you kidding? 

[Fleecewife]

Is there not also a theory (I must declare here that I failed my history O level) that there was a huge volcanic eruption which kept the sunlight away for a couple of years?  That coupled with the reduction in population after the Black Death would be bound to have a huge impact.

Possibly the eruption of Krakatoa?

The one everyone talks about was in 1883 or thereabouts, but it does seem to go off frequently. Is that the one which is suspected of causing the two years with no sun?  In medieval times though would people have known what was causing the problem.  There are lots of huge volcanoes which are potential suspects.  I'm still scratching my head to remember the chief suspect, but you're probably right.