Birdflu Outbreak - Destroy your flock or not?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Silversnake, Oct 25, 2013.


  1. Silversnake

    Silversnake Silverback

    New China H7N9 bird flu cases 'signal potential winter epidemic' | Fox News

    Hypothetical scenario...bird flu epidemic breaks out and you are in a region where an order was issued to kill your birds. Does one comply or not? What other thoughts are there on this? Couldn't find any previous cases in the US with a quick web search.

    The risk I see for culling the flock are you are left without a flock in what may be a major epidemic.

    The risks with not culling is you could get sick from your birds or you could get caught and lose as much as the .gov cares to take from you.
     
  2. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    Since everyone around here knows I have chickens, I'd leave the oldest 5 in the coop and then welcome in the chicken killers to cull my potentially infected birds. The few people who have asked over the years think I only have 4 or 5 anyway so no one would think much of it.

    The remainder would be hidden away not only from prying eyes but from any potential contact with other birds and their poop.
     
  3. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    Hmm.. Have had discussions relating to keeping some of the live livestock well isolated from other herds or flocks to reduce the chance of total losses..
     
    Silversnake likes this.
  4. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    A very quick read on line shows that virus's can live up to 2 weeks outside of a host.. averages are just a few minutes on soft surfaces to 48 hours on hard surfaces.. So I would isolate my flock, if I had any, disinfecting with bleach, keeping them within seperat buildings and institute precautions to prevent the spread from one flock to another.. All well away from prying eyes..
     
    Yard Dart, tulianr and Silversnake like this.
  5. VHestin

    VHestin Farm Chick

    We do not let our chickens out of the coop(they have a pretty nice sized yard and nesting area, probably at least 200sq ft for 7 chickens). And they have no contact with other chickens, so I'd probably not kill my chickens. The government demanded it be done, I'd tell them they want it done so bad, they can do it themselves and pay us $100 per chicken [kissit]
     
  6. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    Just commenting on what I would do.. Divide , isolate, and try to contain infection..
     
    Silversnake likes this.
  7. Silversnake

    Silversnake Silverback

    I can understand why some would not comply. Dividing them up and keeping them hidden makes sense.
     
  8. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    Disinfect, and disteroy if any infections in a divided flock is found.. Infection control is all important or loss it all..
     
    tulianr likes this.
  9. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    I agree with the dominant line of thought; isolate, disinfect, use common sense, and keep prying eyes at a distance. I already keep my laying hens in two separate flocks; one near the house, one at the barn. We initially did this as a hedge against predators (after I lost twenty two chickens in a single night, it seemed prudent), but it would probably serve as a good hedge against infectious disease as well.
     
  10. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    Be ready to use a liberal, oops! (Deleat liberal)!! Forgive me, a heck of a lot of bleach soaking down the cracks and surfaces..
     
  11. Mountainman

    Mountainman Großes Mitglied Site Supporter+++

    What got them and was it an open pen at night?
     
  12. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    Bird flue virus... Just a sonario, nothing actual .. What would you do??
     
  13. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    Sorry, didnt catch the last part of the quote until second reading..
     
  14. Mountainman

    Mountainman Großes Mitglied Site Supporter+++

    My birds are isolated by at least a half mile and it would be business as usual (eggs).
     
  15. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    I have a mile or so and wonder if that would be adequate with wild birds moving through my area..
     
  16. Mountainman

    Mountainman Großes Mitglied Site Supporter+++

    Everything happens for a reason and if birds flying by get you sick it is meant to be. I would not worry about the .goob BS about this, just another distraction from reality.
     
    Yard Dart likes this.
  17. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    I only consern my self with do I have my meat in and enough firewood for the winter.. that sort of thing...
     
  18. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    I'm guessing it was a weasel. Their pen is in a new pasture area that we had only opened up a few months previously. Expecting predator problems, we had completely wrapped their enclosure in chicken wire; but where the two ends of the wire came together, I didn't overlap it. I sewed it together with fine wire, and there were several spots where maybe a finger's breadth of space existed. It was a stupid mistake.

    One morning, when I went down to let them out to roam, most of the chickens were dead; only a handful had survived. One of those "finger's breadth" spaces in the wire had been enlarged to about the size and shape of a 12 oz coke bottle. Twenty two chickens were dead, most with no noticeable signs of damage. One had a foot ripped off, one had a wing ripped off, and one had the top of her head bitten off, and those three were piled in the center of the cage. The others lay dead around the inside periphery of the wire.

    I corrected my earlier mistake, by over lapping the wire, and even adding a second layer for the first several feet. A week later, we opened that area up to our livestock dogs. Since that time, we haven't had any troubles.

    The experience brought home to me how devastating a predator attack on your flock could be in a post SHTF world, when those eggs and that meat could mean the difference between life and death. The incident exemplified why it is a fallacy, in my opinion, to believe that one can wait for times to turn hard before you implement your self sufficiency plans. A can of vacuum packed seeds on a shelf does not a gardener make. Plans to bug out to new location, and live off the land by hunting and trapping, when you don't regularly hunt and trap that area, is a pipe dream. And planning to pick up a few chickens from your neighbor or brother in law to supply you with eggs in a post SHTF world, when you know nothing of raising chickens, will leave you with a meager breakfast plate.

    I find it sad that a ten year old boy or girl growing up on a farm a hundred years ago knew much more about farming and gardening than I do, and perhaps ever will. Most of us have discarded the wisdom of our ancestors, and have to struggle to regain that knowledge though trial and error. I make mistakes on a regular basis, in my gardening endeavors, canning endeavors, and animal raising endeavors; but at least I learn a little bit after every mistake. When things turn ugly is not the time, in my opinion, to make those mistakes. The lessons you learn may not come early enough for you to put them into practice.
     
    gunbunny, kellory and Mountainman like this.
  19. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    And this is why I seek out those publications that had been published "way back when".. Granted, their understanding of what the unintended consequences of some compounds or procedures had left many dead.. Radioactive anal probes to warm the prostate??? What the h-ll was that?? Foolish is the one that limits themselves in their prepping to a single event or set of skills... Game was all but eliminated during the 30's, down winders thought it was safe to eat their sheep, st. hellens will not be that bad..
    Learn what you can , from who ever you can.. And practice what you have learned.. Who has carried water in to the house and used only that for all your needs? You get a real good understanding of how much you use and the effort involved in having that water supply.. I, for one, can not fathom any future without Srirocha pepper sauce!! Gotta have it! Found out how to make it for myself.. All is well in my world..
     
    gunbunny, tulianr, Yard Dart and 2 others like this.
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