herecomethegirls Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 Does anyone know when this might be?! Desperate to let the girls out again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 Over here in the Netherlands avian flu is still rampant and is still said to be the worst outbreak since ever. And a man in the UK has died from bird flu this year. So it doesn’t sound likely that the restrictions will be lifted anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 I would imagine it’s likely to be the very end of this month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 Still lots of cases around the UK so I can’t see it happening any time soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbian Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 On 3/3/2022 at 2:40 PM, Cat tails said: Over here in the Netherlands avian flu is still rampant and is still said to be the worst outbreak since ever. And a man in the UK has died from bird flu this year. So it doesn’t sound likely that the restrictions will be lifted anytime soon. I understand that the man who died actually had many waterfowl living in his house with him; rather unusual. On 3/3/2022 at 7:23 PM, mullethunter said: I would imagine it’s likely to be the very end of this month. I think that it was the beginning of April last year that the girls could be let out again. Let’s hope that it is no later this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 There was a very interesting Dutch consumer programme about the avian flu epidemic. Avian flu is now endemic in European wild bird populations. So it isn’t even coming in from Asia by migratory bird, but constantly present in our own bird populations. So the flu free periods in the year will be come shorter and shorter, as infections in commercial bird populations can happen year round. These strains of avian influenza have been found in several mammal species, including badgers, deer and foxes. The chances of this flu infecting humans becomes bigger. And the scientists in the programme stated that it could well be the next pandemic, originating not in China, but here in Europe. The Netherlands alone houses around 100 million chickens! I think us backyard keepers should move towards keeping chickens under cover most of the year and cherish the moments that they can free range, instead of the other way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 I think we should just move them all indoors with us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbian Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 On 3/7/2022 at 7:14 PM, Cat tails said: There was a very interesting Dutch consumer programme about the avian flu epidemic. Avian flu is now endemic in European wild bird populations. So it isn’t even coming in from Asia by migratory bird, but constantly present in our own bird populations. So the flu free periods in the year will be come shorter and shorter, as infections in commercial bird populations can happen year round. These strains of avian influenza have been found in several mammal species, including badgers, deer and foxes. The chances of this flu infecting humans becomes bigger. And the scientists in the programme stated that it could well be the next pandemic, originating not in China, but here in Europe. The Netherlands alone houses around 100 million chickens! I think us backyard keepers should move towards keeping chickens under cover most of the year and cherish the moments that they can free range, instead of the other way around. If Avian Flu becomes endemic does this mean that birds will develop immunity and/or the virus will mutate into something more contagious but less pathogenic as the Rona has? With lessons from Mareck’s best not to use a ‘leaky’ vaccine for any of these viruses. From a quick read, it seems that the less pathogenic strain does not usually kill poultry but the highly pathogenic strain does. Evolutionary pressure one would think would not favour the more pathogenic strain; from whence did this come? I was wondering why this year is so bad as far as outbreaks are concerned. I’m not sure that I would keep chicken if they had to be cooped up all the time, year in year out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbian Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Saw something in the DM which said that ‘free range’ status will be reinstated from the beginning of April but no corroboration from NFU or Defra. Has anyone any updates on ‘freedom day’ for chooks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbian Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 Any updates on when the chooks can be released? I’m checking the media but no mention other than the DM as above. There’s usually quite a chat about it on this forum but it appears somewhat silent on the topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarrisonFamily Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 As they are still finding cases and putting in local restrictions I am assuming they aren't going to lift this for a while yet... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herecomethegirls Posted April 2, 2022 Author Share Posted April 2, 2022 It’s April! But still no information on Defra. Surely it can’t be much longer!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarrisonFamily Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 On 4/2/2022 at 8:38 AM, herecomethegirls said: It’s April! But still no information on Defra. Surely it can’t be much longer!? Sadly I think it will - they still found cases in suffolk on 30th march and birds were destroyed....unfortunately, I think the time they are locked in wills soon exceed the time they are allowed out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 On 4/2/2022 at 12:01 PM, HarrisonFamily said: Sadly I think it will - they still found cases in suffolk on 30th march and birds were destroyed....unfortunately, I think the time they are locked in wills soon exceed the time they are allowed out. Sadly I agree with this too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbian Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 I read somewhere that there should be a 10-day infection-free period before lifting restrictions; cannot remember where I a saw this so may not be accurate. It would be useful to have more information on the official sites as, other than reports of cases, there is no indication of timescales for letting chicken free-range again. Perhaps, ‘we’ ought to look at how commercial poultry are kept; the numbers kept in flocks I find are staggering. It cannot be good to have birds crowded together in huge numbers. Just musing…if all birds with avian flu are culled are we stopping the development of immunity? ‘Freedom Day’ for the girls cannot come soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippie Chick Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 On 4/6/2022 at 9:33 AM, Columbian said: Just musing…if all birds with avian flu are culled are we stopping the development of immunity? That's pretty much what I've been wondering over the last couple of months. Swooping in to cull birds that may survive and be valuable to promoting resistance in the wild - as it's not only poultry that end up being culled in some outbreaks may not be the brightest idea and is looking more and more in some instances like a knee-jerk reaction, especially as you can kill all the captive birds you want but you're not going to make an impact on the wild population carrying the virus. Where captive birds are being kept and there's an outbreak then I believe that the nature of the virus means that you know within a shockingly short period of time which birds are going to die and which are going to survive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted April 7, 2022 Share Posted April 7, 2022 This is not a disease that comes from the wild. It originates from poultry farms. We humans have burdened wild birds with it. And wild populations aren’t culled, so could technically build up immunity. But as with all flu viruses, avian flu mutates very fast too, so permanent immunity is an illusion. The worst thing is that there is a perfectly fine vaccine for poultry, but not used in Europe and UK because some other countries refuse eggs and meat from birds vaccinated against avian influenza. However they are fine with the other 10 to 11 things European and UK poultry is standard vaccinated against. So because of fear of export restrictions, your and my birds will have to remain indoors for increasing periods of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Girly Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 So much for the lifting of restrictions! Just let my girls out and enjoyed watching them for a few minutes. Came indoors and fed the cat ( she’s nearly 21 ). It didn’t take 5 minutes. Back to the garden to pandemonium- a fox had just killed my beautiful Girly. , Now the others are back in their run and will only be able to come out when I’m in the garden.🙁🙁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarrisonFamily Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 On 5/2/2022 at 9:03 AM, Girly said: So much for the lifting of restrictions! Just let my girls out and enjoyed watching them for a few minutes. Came indoors and fed the cat ( she’s nearly 21 ). It didn’t take 5 minutes. Back to the garden to pandemonium- a fox had just killed my beautiful Girly. , Now the others are back in their run and will only be able to come out when I’m in the garden.🙁🙁 So sorry to hear that - hope the others are OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted May 3, 2022 Share Posted May 3, 2022 I’m so, so, sorry to hear this. Heartbreaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
