Poultry Farmers Protect Flocks From Avian Flu

Poultry farmers in the Midwest are taking extra precautions after the discovery of avian flu among chickens in Pennsylvania and Delaware, but there are some things the industry can’t control, as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:

Transcript

Poultry farmers in the Midwest are taking extra precautions after the discovery of avian flu
among chickens in Pennsylvania and Delaware. But there are some things the industry can’t
control, as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:


Most commercial poultry farmers practice state-of-the-art biosecurity because of what’s at stake.
Some avian flu is relatively harmless, but if a lethal variety breaks out, the farmer’s entire flock
has to be destroyed. So birds are isolated from contact with visitors and delivery trucks, and
workers frequently change clothes and disinfect their shoes.


Paul Wiley is with Michigan State University’s agricultural extension service. He says
that’s not the case with city émigrés to the country who raise chickens as a hobby.


“The first thing they want to have is two horses, the second thing they want is some kind of flock
of poultry, and they are clueless about poultry!”


Wiley says more backyard flocks could threaten the health of the large commercial flocks. Still,
he says the situation is not nearly as bad as in some Asian countries. There, birds are sold live at
markets, which brings them into frequent contact with people, other birds and wild animals.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tracy Samilton.