Reduce The Risks!

How can henkeepers help to keep their birds safe and minimise the risk of contracting and spreading disease? Grant Brereton spoke to our poultry vet, Victoria Roberts

- Grant Brereton

Now, more than ever, all poultry keepers need to be on the lookout for signs of ill health and diseases in their flock. Whether you are a fancier or backyard keeper, the months of lockdown that began in December last year meant a heightened awareness of the legal requirements and just how quickly such measures can be enforced.

This had a positive effect in some respects. It has made many people cut down on the number of breeds (or birds) kept, in the knowledge that they need an area of shelter and protection from wild birds should the worst happen and a UK outbreak of avian flu is confirmed.

However, it’s not just the varying strains of bird flu that need consideration when it comes to vigilance and biosecurity. There are many poultry diseases that can leave a high mortality rate in your flock, which often people are unaware of, or don’t want to think about.

It’s so easy to bring in a disease to your flock inadvertently, by acquiring healthy-looking stock which are, in fact, carrying many possible forms of illness. And these days there are so many meet-up and sales groups on social media that buying, selling and swapping birds has never been easier. But what are you buying in? Could it be a pair that will destroy your whole flock?

You might have brought in many different forms of avian species to your property over many decades without a problem, and thankfully most new acquisitions are introduced to your flock without issue, but there’s always a first time. It’s easy to be flippant about biosecurity and quarantine when everything’s going right… until the day it isn’t!

To this end, I sought advice from our specialist poultry vet Victoria Roberts to get the latest advice on how to minimise the risks posed to your precious birds by new arrivals.