Birds in England must be kept inside as rules tighten due to flu outbreak

Poultry and captive birds have to be kept indoors in England from today to prevent the spread of bird flu.

The national housing measures, which were announced last week, are aimed at preventing house birds from interacting with wild birds.

It comes as the UK has been facing its largest outbreak of bird flu with more than 200 cases confirmed on commercial premises, smallholdings and in pet birds since October last year.

The Government said everyone must keep their birds inside regardless of the type of bird or numbers kept.

They are also being urged to follow other biosecurity measures mandated by the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) at all times to protect their flock and prevent the risk of future outbreaks.

These include cleansing and disinfecting footwear and clothing before and after contact with birds, reducing the movement of people on to premises and storing bedding properly so it does not get contaminated by wild birds.

The Government has warned owners that avian influenza could kill house birds if action is not taken.

The NFU in the South West has given this advice:

The new measures are being introduced after the disease was confirmed at over 90 premises and has been found in more than 200 dead wild birds since the start of October.

Christine Middlemiss, chief veterinary officer, said: “Many poultry keepers in England have excellent biosecurity standards but we know that one small mistake is all it takes to introduce bird flu on to premises and kill flocks.

“A housing order alone will not be enough to reduce infection rates. Implementing scrupulous biosecurity and separating flocks from wild birds remains the best form of defence.

“Whether you keep just a few birds or thousands, from today onwards they must be housed under cover to protect them from this highly infectious disease.”

The UK Health Security Agency continues to advise that the risk to public health from the virus is very low.

The Food Standards Agency advice that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers also remains unchanged.

Christmas Turkeys

There are some concerns amongst farmers that outbreaks of bird flu in areas which produce Christmas turkeys could affect supply in the run up to the festive season.

Mark Gorton, managing director of Traditional Norfolk Poultry said:

"We're losing our birds that we should be selling for Christmas.

"You can't make any profit on a bird that you're not selling. It's not great by any stretch. We are a big company, and we will get through this, but there will be lots of people out there that will question the viability of the poultry industry and whether they want to raise birds going forward.

"In order to give farmers confidence, we need to be able to vaccinate our birds."

With no end date for the 'housing order' there is concern some farmers will not try to house birds next year - due to uncertainty. Most bird producers order their birds for the following Christmas immediately after the Christmas just gone.

Farmer Richard Tucker produces cattle and geese each year at his farm in Devon:

Some smaller turkey, goose and chicken farmers say they're worried they'll be put out of business this Christmas - as they struggle to compete with supermarkets due to rising costs and the impacts of bird flu.

Andy Grey from M C Kelly Ltd supplies meat across the West Country:

What is the Government doing to help?

New government support for the poultry industry was announced last month to assist farmers and producers with the impacts of bird flu.

Under the new plans, the Government will alter the existing bird flu compensation scheme allowing compensation to be paid to farmers from the outset of planned culling rather than at the end.

This will allow them to provide swifter payments to help stem any cash flow pressures and give earlier certainty about entitlement to compensation. The payments better reflect the impact of outbreaks on farmers.

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