Poultry farmers feeling the strain as avian flu lockdown measures kick in

Anxiety levels are extremely high among poultry farmers in the county following confirmation of the detection of high pathogen avian influenza in a commercial flock near Kells last week.

As the Department of Agriculture moves to limit the spread of the virus by imposing a mandatory housing orders, farmers are on high alert and are following stringent biosecurity measures to protect their flocks but remain deeply worried.

One poultry farmer said bird flu had not been detected this close before and it was a really big worry. If the virus was detected, he said it would be "detrimental". If the high pathogen variant is detected it means a full cull to prevent it spreading.

When asked about the impact of the new measures, the farmer said: "It is a full lockdown. You have to keep birds housed until further notice. There is bird flu within the wild flock so you are saving your birds from access to that. It is really big worry. The birds themselves, it doesn't have as big an impact on them. Though they do eat more food inside."

He said how it affects them also depends on the age of the flock and if they have been used to ranging, they can get upset if they not allowed to. "It doesnt tend to annoy the younger birds as much.

"It is not ideal, it has to be done. It would put your lights out, it would be a huge dent to your business. It would be detrimental really to get it."

While birds had been out ranging during daylight hours and housed at night, from last Monday, they must be housed 24/7.

Many of the measures were already being taken but efforts have been heightened following the recent outbreaks. The farmer explained this means no visitors, total lockdown, biosecurity measures, keeping everything spotless and wearing different clothes and different boots for different sheds.

"We would do a lot of that stuff anyway but now you are doing extra. It takes longer and your workload is added to but it has to be done. It's very worrying it is so close, it has never been this close before."

He said could "be doing all the biosecurity measures in the world "and it could still happen and it could be something as as simple as a wild bird flying over the roof and excreting over the fan and infecting the birds that way.