I have a meeting tomorrow on avian flu... apparently it is decimating chicken in the west and headed east... they expect over a billion dead birds in NC alone... consider stocking up... if you have small clocks consider a means of keeping migratory birds away... more after the meeting...
Sigh. Commercial operations are very different than home grown food. They are not the same thing but they do deal with the same issues if both commercial and home raise birds are local along major fowl migration routes
I'm considering getting two more chickens, even though I'm only supposed to have 6 in the city :0x . I want to make sure I have enough eggs in the winter because I bake a lot. Think anyone will notice? *whistles innocently*.
We use to do that with the rabbits on the winter wheat in the garden. Ours wasn't as pretty or functional
Our county is the #1 poultry producing county in NC... we expect to loose 79 million birds if we get hit... it will shut down 4 major processing plants as well as hog farms... apparently the strain can also infect hogs and use them as a incubator so infected hogs will be quarantined as well... apparently water fowl harbor this strain and act like an avian Typhoid Mary... they are not effected but will transmit the flu through feces, feathers and dander.... one possible infection route in the North west was from a hunter who killed some ducks brought them home and then did some work in one of his chicken houses... expect to be out of birds for 26-50 weeks.... if you have a large operation. most birds will have to be composted in the chicken houses to limit spread. A two mile radius from an infected farm will have all poultry killed off with a 6 mile exclusion zone. all people/vehicles/ and equipment will have to be dis- infected. A 10 -20 mile buffer zone will extend from the infected site with farms in those areas being under a weekly watch for symptoms... Symptoms include swollen heads, and wattles and combs that are cyanotic ( blue in color), lesions on the legs and a high mortality rate. ( one turkey house with 10 thousand turkeys was tested a positive on a Friday, a secondary test was sent to the USVAD labs and verified on Monday... good news the government pays for any live birds that have to be destroyed... bad news they paid for 36 turkeys... bottom line if you raise muscovite ducks and chickens... there is a strong possibility that the chickens can pick up the disease from them... but your ducks will live... it is possible to eat the eggs and met from the bird that you kill...but cook it completely... no eggs over easy... I'm trying to get a copy of the slide show to post... not sure if it is copyrighted... I will check prior to posting...
