This morning on my drive to work, I was listening to an NPR update that consumers should expect egg prices to rise in the few months due to the Avian Flu. The proceeded to go over the details and interviewed a Small Poultry Farmer with a flock of 500 and detailed the precautions he was taking.

Although, the virus is currently in the Midwest, Scientists are still not sure how it is being spread. Add uncertain infection rates in Migratory birds and it leaves way too many uncertainties for my taste.

Then my mind quickly asked: What about the Backyard Farmers?

How can we give our tiny flocks a fighting chance against this unknown threat?

So I decided to put together a list of recommended precautions you can take, whether your have a flock of 5 or 500.

What You Can Do

Refrain from Adding New Birds to Your Flock and If You Do Quarantine This one should be standard operating procedure even when we are not on monitoring a possible situation. If adding to your flock, make sure you are purchasing from reputable sources and quarantine any new chicks away from your flock for at least 30 days.

Refrain from Free Ranging Scientists have not been able to confirm if the virus is being spread by migratory birds, so keeping your flock safely away from strangers will reduce their chances of exposure.

Shower Before You Visit Your Flock This one may sound like a bit much, but since scientists have not been able to confirm that the virus isn’t transmitted by contact with us humans or that it is using us as a vehicle for transmission, it is recommend it. You don’t want to unknowingly infect your own flock after a visit with another flock or some of your chicken friends.

Be Aware of Your Water Source Remove or limit access to any water sources that could be shared by migratory birds and your flock. Make sure to keep Poultry Water-ers clean and fresh to reduce the chances of other exposure weakening their immunity.

Protect Your Feed When You Bring It Home Make sure to keep your feed protected from bugs or rodents that might try to get to it as scientists believe rodents could be one of the methods of transmission. We keep ours in trash bins purchased for that purpose.

Make Sure Feed Is of Good Quality and from a Reputable Source When buying feed make sure your seller cares as much about your flock as you do and protects their feed from bugs and rodents too. Organic, Natural Feeds that will keep your flock going strong.

Keep Your Flock Healthy Holistic immunity boosting techniques could give your flock a better chance than others. Check out: The Holistic Trinity from Fresh Eggs Daily

Stay Informed! Monitor reputable information sources like the CDC to stay up to date on the latest information.

The Verdict

Until Scientists know more about the virus and how it is spread there is no way to protect your flock 100% but a few cautionary steps can help give your flock a fighting chance.

Resources

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