Birds across the East forced into 'flock-down' as bird flu cases grow
Birds across the region must now be kept indoors
From tomorrow birdkeepers across the East will be legally required to keep their birds indoors to help protect their flocks from avian flu.
Mandatory housing measures for all poultry and captive birds in Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex will be introduced from Wednesday after a decision by the UK's chief veterinary officer.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said the housing order legally requires all birdkeepers in these hotspots to keep their flocks indoors and to follow stringent biosecurity measures to help protect them from the disease, regardless of type or size.
Brian Finnerty represents the National Farmers Union (NFU) in the East.
He welcomes the measures: "This is a logical step forward. We've seen a number of cases over the last few days. and this step will help protect our industry and all the birds that are kept by people in their gardens across the East."
He continued, saying the virus can have a serious impact on the industry if not handled properly: "An outbreak of avian influenza can have a serious impact on businesses.
"You can have insurance to protect yourselves and you can receive compensation for healthy birds that are culled, but there isn't compensation for birds that die of the disease, and there can also be huge add-on costs for individual businesses.
"Therefore, we all need to work together. Everyone has an interest in protecting our poultry industry and the birds that we have across the region."
The UK has faced its largest ever outbreak of avian influenza over the last year with more than 160 cases confirmed since late October 2021.
The introduction of the housing measures comes after the disease was detected at 16 premises in the East since the beginning of September, as well as several reports in wild birds.
Brian is hopeful the 'flock-down' won't affect our Christmas turkey dinner plans: "Turkey producers are working really hard to maintain production and high levels of biosecurity...
"We do produce around 10-15 million turkeys across the country every year, so there is a robust resilience in the supply chain which means it will hopefully not have an impact."
Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: "We are seeing a growing number of bird flu cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, and expect the risk to continue to rise over the coming months as migratory birds return to the UK.
"We are now taking further action to help protect flocks from this highly infectious and devastating disease.
"Keepers in these hotspots must continue to follow strict biosecurity standards to protect their flock, and should use the next few days to prepare and move their birds indoors."