Bird flu suspected in Sonoma County: 5 ways to protect your chickens

For backyard chicken owners, including this reporter, Friday’s story is how Julie Meyer lost her flock of 55 birds. The suspicion of bird flu was heartbreaking, if not a call to action.

This has left locals like me, who count these feathered friends as pets, wondering, “How can I protect my flock?”

It all comes down to an almost scary-sounding word: biosecurity.

“The first thing is biosecurity,” said Rodrigo Gallardo, an expert on common avian diseases and a veterinarian at the University of California, Davis. “That, and also trying to limit contact with other animals, especially wild birds.”

Biosecurity involves taking measures to prevent diseases from entering the coop and/or escaping. “When it comes to treating birds, we don’t treat birds,” Gallardo said. “It’s all about prevention.”

Here are five tips from Gallardo and others to keep your chickens safe:

1) Sharing the herb is prohibited.

Gallardo noted that since backyard chickens do not typically live in barns, it is important to keep them in a coop or run around and keep other animals out. “Keep them inside so they don’t have direct access to grass that is shared with wild birds. “or other species,” Gallardo said.

“As avian influenza has spread to cattle, it is very important that there are not multiple species in one place,” he said, adding that “other species” include barn dogs and outdoor cats.

2) Leave the fashion show for the runway, not the coop.

It is important for owners to wear special shoes and clothing when handling their chickens. “This will protect you and the birds,” Gallardo said. “If your birds get infected and you wear those shoes to the feed store, you could be carrying that virus back with you and putting others at risk.”

3) A foot bath (for you, not the chickens) won’t hurt.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture suggests using a sanitizing footbath with a cleaning mat at the entrance to your coop or coop. Kari Colementas, who keeps most of her chickens as barnyard pets, said she keeps a bucket outside the shoe run. “It’s not perfect, but it’s the best I could do,” she said.

4) Fencing (from above) matters

Maurice Pitesky, a herd management specialist and veterinarian at the University of California, Davis, says fencing is important. “People often have good fencing around their coop or running track, but often they don’t have it at the top,” he said.

Not only does fencing keep out predators, but it also prevents wild birds from getting feces on the run if they are the right type, Pitesky said. Sun shades, tarpaulins or tarpaulins – in addition to chicken wire – are better deterrents than just chicken wire for preventing bird droppings from getting into the coop or run.

5) Keep your hands on your chickens, but not your neighbors’.

Additional preventive tips from the state Department of Agriculture include: avoid contact with other birds; Isolate new chicks from the current flock for 30 days and monitor them for any signs of disease; washing and disinfecting the car upon return from the feed warehouse; and always wash your hands with soap and water before and after handling chickens.

If your backyard chicken is sick, experts say it’s important to contact your veterinarian, as well as the state’s sick bird hotline at 866-922-2473.

About bird flu… in our forest

Avian influenza is primarily transmitted by wild waterfowl and can infect chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks, geese and guinea fowl. Largely due to the 6 million wild birds that migrate through California in the fall and winter, the pathogen has hit the state hard. North Bay’s wetlands, lagoons and fields lie directly below the flyway, putting both commercial and backyard chickens at risk.

“We have lost a lot of wild bird habitat, which is resulting in more interaction between wild birds and poultry than before,” Pitesky said.

Because beginning of the latest avian influenza outbreak in February 2022More than 104 million birds were affected. The USDA reports that highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in a total of 1,189 flocks in 48 states.

The virus affected backyard and commercial chickens almost equally, wiping out 516 commercial and 673 backyard flocks.

Four positive cases in California The USDA has reported them since September 18th. As of Wednesday, Oct. 30, reports do not include Meyer’s case. This is also not reported California Department of Food and Agricultureagency responsible for confirming bird flu cases throughout the state. (Meyer, however, said Wednesday that confirmation would be a foregone conclusion. “Oh, hell yes. It was 100% confirmed,” she said of the flu.)

So what should I do?

Locals like me often consider backyard chickens to be pets.

“They are very much like a friendly cat,” Caitlin Gilleran said. “They bring a lot of joy and feathered hugs that we love.”

This is true. Every night when my husband closes the door to our coop and says goodnight to our five ladies in the backyard—Brownie, Twilight, Blueberry, Popcorn 2, and Lumpy Space Princess—they respond with a quiet “buk-buk-buk.” .

Trust me, there is love here and enough of it to ensure that we will do everything we can to keep them safe, especially the five steps listed above.

Amy Windsor is director of public affairs journalism at The Press Democrat. She can be reached at [email protected] or 707-521-5218.