Any day now someone will state we have bird flu and once the press get hold of it thats the end .
It will be the same as Foot and Mouth with everyone blaming ebveryone else
France has it we are next I think once its confirmed no amount of covering up will stop it .
Will we be compensated for the loss of our flocks ?

i am just about to put my 6 girls in to a shed today, what are other people doing???

My 3 have been undercover really since October but that's more to do with the conditions in the garden than fears over bird flu. The soil doesn't get rid of rain well so the garden ends up like a quagmire with their little starfish feet paddling in the mud and it's not good for them to be in such muddy conditions. They're in a 6ft x 8ft run with plastic sheeting for a roof so the interior is clean and dry and narrow gauge mesh for the sides. Their food and water is inside so no chance of cross contamination from wild birds. They've been coming out for afternoons in the garden recently now the weather's improving a bit but I don't suppose that it'll be long before that's not allowed.

Still, I'm not panicking! Even if it comes to this country, I don't think my girls will be culled. I hope that the powers that be will manage to contain any outbreaks so I'm enjoying watching my hens and eating their eggs as usual and will continue to do so.

Mine are now restricted to their run with ridgid plastic sheeting roof on it and small mesh sides. they are not impressed.
my ducks and turkey are in an outhouse , broodys run has been flu proofed.
I would have left mine out for longer but I am surrounded my neighbours all of whom are seeing dead birds on the tv news followed by various experts saying they are safe from infection undercover so I fear if i do not get them out of sight and confined I may have unwanted attention from enviramental health as when people are scared they may complain about things that don't really bother them just to get rid of my birds. my immediate neighbours are fine but I have a LOt of neighbours and can't be sure one of the ones further away wouldn't flip if they looked out and saw our troop all happily running about free.
Its had one immediate result. gone from 5 eggs plus a day to two. I've put a thick layer of straw down in their run which they are enjoying scratching about in, am also hanging up cabbage leaves and apples to amuse them and will sort out a deep tray to fill with dirt for dust bathing. Only other poultry keeper near me brought his in some time ago so hopefully if we can keep the neighbours happy we'll get through this unscathed.

My 4 hens are in a enclosed run with finer netting going on tomorrow.
The 5 young pullets are in my greenhouse ( in dapple shade of trees) so they are fine. Was hoping to extend the run and put the younger ones in.

Think compensation will be for the large poultry breeders if one of their birds gets it they will all be culled like the F&M.

Unless they come up with a vaxine soon and how much is that going to cost ?

I am fed up with family and friends saying when are you going to get rid of your birds. Why should I we have not got it yet some people dont know how much I worry. But they are eager enough to get my eggs free of charge.
Sorry rant over.

If miserable people are giving you grief over your chickens then don't let them have free eggs anymore. Charge them for the eggs at supermarket prices or even more and use the money to offset your costs of extending and modifying the run.

Yep, my girls and chap are going into an ark with a large run attatched today. They will not be impressed. Neither am I. Step father is going to try and create something which will incorperate the pond for the ducks. WHat a miserable situation!

We have 50 or so hens. They have a large enclosure but happily escape and roam the land each day. We could not afford to either house them inside or vaccinate them. If any measures are imposed we will have no choice but to cull them, the 6 geese and the 2 turkeys. Not panicing so much as getting resigned to the inevitable.

Hello there - just defected from well-known poultry forum but have been a fan of River Cottage for years. My hens and lad will be in a very large shed, but I'm at a loss as to what to do for my two aylesburys and two geese, which were going to be the poultry meat futures. It seems heartless to lock in the ducks and how could I cope with a little pool for them? What are other people doing for water fowl?

my ducks are in an outhouse with a large tray of water to wreck their houseing . they are taking a lot of cleaning out. they seem happy enough.
not sure what you would do with geese, being grazers and so big it would be awkward although they can live on pellets like other fowl. Water wise they don't HAVE to have a pond-as long as they have something they can submerge their heads in to wash their eyes they'll manage . If you have a breeding pair of geese I'd be inclined to try and keep them as even if they can't rear this year thye have such a long breeding career losing one year isn't the end of the world.

How the hell can someone compensate me for the loss of a couple of decades of selective breeding? What compensation would help me recover from the loss of personal pets?
Will it be a blanket sum to cover egg laying hybrids? If so, I doubt they will compensate the real value of some of the rare breeds I keep here.
Quite simply, there cannot be compensation for the loss of my birds.

Hi Fenwoman,

Equally to the point,
How will the genepool be compensated for the loss of rare breeds ?
I hope, but am not optimistic, that Defra will try a different approach to simply killing everything with wings.
All the best.

So is the undercover thing what we should all be doing then? I've only got four girls, they have a covered run but I only use it if we are away and someone else comes to feed them. They usually are free to roam around the garden.
I just feel so sad when hen keeping in the garden has recently become more popular. Ignorant neighbours making comments don't help " What are you going to do blah blah blah". Answer 'I DON'T KNOW'. So please keep advice coming on the forum!

I would cover them up. Bird Flu will be here in incubation, if it has traveled the world so fast.

The man on the radio this morning said they're going to have two zones for each outbreak - the inner one (3km?) which will have the disinfectant baths and culling of infected birds (and they say they have a test to know which are infected and which are vaccinnated) and the outer one (10km?) in which they'll 'monitor' to check if the inner ring is working.

He seemed to think we are less at risk here than in other parts of Europe but he didn't explain why so it might just be politic-speak.