Avian Flu the Coop

I remember 2015, the last time we dealt with a major avian flu outbreak in Iowa, when over 30 million poultry were "culled" in this state alone.  Now, here we are in 2022 and we're dealing with avian influenza once again.  Since we have been asked by many people about this situation, I thought it might be useful to put a post out there that addresses the issue.

But first, let me make a few things clear:

1. There have been ZERO cases of this strain crossing over and infecting humans. 
2. Any bird could have the virus, but it seems to be more dangerous for larger birds (raptors, waterfowl and poultry).
3. Poultry are extremely likely to to become very ill and die from this disease if they contract it.
4. Crowding will increase the likelihood of spread for the virus.

I started with the CDC's most recent report because they are monitoring the disease from the perspective of its potential to cross-over and infect humans.  Again, there are no reports of cross-over to humans.  And, frankly, most people aren't going to be in any sort of situation where the transfer is likely.

For better information from the farmer perspective, I went to the USDA.  As of April 25, the numbers were as follows:

• 150 Commercial flocks have confirmed outbreaks
• 80 Backyard flocks have confirmed outbreaks
• 31.66 million birds have been culled, of which over 13 million have been in Iowa.
• Flocks in 29 states have been confirmed to have HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza)
  

The most recent HPAI outbreak in Iowa has been right here in Bremer County, where a commercial turkey flock of 29,000 was identified on April 21.

So, if you're wondering how close to home this hits - there you go. 

The good news? As the season warms, avian influenza has a much harder time surviving and being transmitted.  Of course, we've had a slow Spring, which has only extended the period for infections.  I think it is safe to say that we are moving towards the downward side of the curve. But, we're just not there yet.

Part of the problem? Commercial flocks.

 

There certainly have been some reports of illness in small "backyard flocks" because - simply put - poultry are poultry.  If a virus can infect poultry and be dangerous to them, it does not check first to see if they are in an overly large confinement operation.  Also, it is the nature of poultry to "flock," which implies close proximity - especially when they sleep.  We can give our hens a room that provides 50 square feet per bird and they'll all sleep in the same area.  However, it is still safe to say that almost all of the population loss for poultry will come from the larger operations with their enforced high-density environments.

 

Remember, one of the reasons we are hyper-vigilant about bird flu in Iowa has little to do with the health of the people in the state - and it certainly isn't because of small producers like the Genuine Faux Farm.  Instead, it has to do with protecting these giant confinements that think it makes sense to refer to 5.3 million birds as a "flock."  And, of course, 99+% of the birds reported to have been terminated because of or by this disease come from those flocks.

 

This is why egg prices have increased in the grocery store. According to the USDA, "the average ad price increased sharply, up $1.24 to $2.71 per dozen, its highest level since the depths of the 2015 HPAI outbreaks."

This is one of the reasons I continue to push the idea that people, like you, should continue to source their food from local growers who raise poultry and other foods on a smaller scale.  If more people were consistent in purchasing from small-scale, diversified farms, you would find two things would happen over time.

1. prices would stabilize, even during periods of adversity
2. losses of flocks - which will happen in this world - would not be quite as catastrophic as the "flock" of 5.3 million hens in Buena Vista county.

And, as far as price stability is concerned - farms like ours prefer to set a price that gives us a reasonable margin to cover our expenses and run with it.  There is no benefit to us or you if we bounce our prices up and down in response to supply and demand.  This is food we're talking about - playing games with pricing is not appropriate. 

But, when monetary profits are the focus of the food industry rather than the production of healthy, quality food, we set our food system up for failure when difficult times happen.  And, we think we need reports like the one I referenced above from the USDA.  No, really.  Take the link and try to read and make sense of that report.  Now, ask me, or another operator with a smaller flock how we price our eggs.  I suspect it will make much more sense.  

 

I guess I would RATHER have a report that analyzes whether we are actually FEEDING people well enough than one that gets deep into supply and demand analysis.

 

And, before you start making noise about people who will lose their jobs if we don't have these large egg producers, consider what would happen if we could put a bunch of the workers on reasonably sized chunks of land, gave them backyard sized flocks, and then paid them the proper price per dozen that would pay for the expenses required to produce excellent eggs.

And our wild birds?

The news on the avian flu has continued to move its focus from poultry flocks to wild birds in recent weeks.  Why?  I suspect people are tired of hearing about the large poultry flocks and HPAI - it's only people like us who raise poultry that are watching carefully at this point.  Or - maybe you are when you see the prices in the grocery store.

Some experts are encouraging individuals to take down their bird feeders and put away their bird baths for a while.  The logic is similar to the reason for closing bars and restaurants during the Covid pandemic.  However, I trust the Cornell Lab's All About Birds site when it comes to providing the best guidance in this situation.  I strongly recommend that you take the link I provide here and review what they have to say - there is plenty of practical information for each of us.

If you like to feed songbirds AND you don't raise poultry, go right ahead.  Leave those feeders up.  Smaller birds are less likely to carry HPAI, though they are not immune.  The site suggests you should clean bird baths and feeders regularly - but they suggest you do that all the time to prevent the spread of a wide range of avian disease. 

On the other hand, if you raise poultry, it IS possible that a songbird could carry HPAI to your flock.  So, if you, or a neighbor have a poultry flock, you may want to determine what level of risk you are willing to accept.

At present, the concern for wild birds is focusing more on our raptors and waterfowl, with several hundred reports of dead birds that have tested positive.

map Apr 25, 2022 from this CDC page

And the GFF flock?

So far, all is well with the birds at the Genuine Faux Farm.  We continue to treat them as well as we are able and they have shown no signs of illness and are producing well.

The decisions we have made with respect to protecting our flocks has been as follows:

1. food and water inside the building

This prevents small birds from being tempted to congregate around these places with our poultry.  In general, it is unlikely that they will attempt to go into the coop, which is a part of a larger building.

2. the birds have daily access to pasture

We feel that the overall health of our flock is improved by access to pasture area.  We are willing to take the small risk that an infected songbird might interact with our flock and possibly result in the loss of all our birds.  For the most part, we do not have much concern that there will be exposure to waterfowl at our farm.  And, exposure to a raptor is usually brief (and fatal) for one bird at a time.

And, yes, we do things to discourage predation by raptors. 

In short, our risk/benefit analysis tells us that confinement is not a measure we are willing to take.  The benefit right now for them getting outdoors is greater than the risk we run.

3. visitors won't enter the poultry rooms or pastures

We can pay attention to what we're doing and avoid tracking in things on our person, but that goes out the window as we add people to the equation.  So, we're sorry folks, but there won't be any visitors to see chicks this year.  We know some of you like to bring kids to the farm so they can see a baby hen or a turklet.  I guess we're just going to have a good enough year at GFF that we are willing to make a go of it in 2023 too - then you all can come see chicks.

4. just be a responsible flock manager

Let's just put this out there one more time to make ourselves clear.  The loss of our flock would be bad.  We would hate to see the birds suffer.  We like our eggs and poultry meat.  We like getting quality eggs and poultry meat to our customers and we do like the bit of income it gives us.

So, we do what we always do to try and provide them with the healthiest environment we can and we manage risks of disease in ways that match the scale and importance of our operation for the farm's well-being.

But, if the virus should somehow find them, recovery will be far easier for us and our small flocks.  Will it hurt us financially?  Of course it will. Will it be a blow to our own mental health and well-being.  Yes.  

And I still say I like the odds that the management of our small flocks will bring them through this event just fine - just as many, many other small farms will also succeed in 2022.