bird flu hits bernard mathews turkeys...what do you think?

debtworrier

catowen wrote:

I dont eat BM stuff anymore, but im certainly not panicing about it - like others, im really hoping for some cheaper poultry in the next week or so!!!!

MATH - :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :T

Yes - lots of farmers thinking "If my birds keel over then all I get is bupkas compensation from the department of Pennypinching. KILL THEM ALL NOW! Heinrich - start the machine."
:beer:

pigpen

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

i should imagine its like people.. who are indoors and in close contact with people... virus.... coughs ..and cold.... etc .... spread quite quickly....

and people that are more hardened.. outside all weathers.... hardly takes antibiotics..... not suffer so much with virus type illness...

that's me.. never get anything. I have 3 children down with this nasty nasty flu bug at the mo. My mother and sister had it.. I had 3 days of sniffles and bit of a sore throat.

But.. if we are having bird flu over here.. can I kill my MIL???? Silly old bird that she is... PLEEEAAASSSEE!!!

And as my staple diet consists of BM turkey burgers.. what will I live on??? :eek: I'm going to STARVE to death!!!!!

debtworrier

Toxic_Lemon wrote:

I hope people don't get too hysterical over this. I have a pet bird (indoors) and hope I don't get any comments from stupid people.

People are fine. It's stupid *governments* that give me the chills.

debtworrier

Addiscomber wrote:

Absolutely. This isn't farming as it should be done, but unnatural in the same way that caging birds up in a space the size of an A4 sheet of paper to get eggs cheaper is unnatural, and feeding animal byproducts to herbivores was unnatural. The only difference is that dairy farmers might not have known what was actually in the cattle cake that they bought, but these poultry and egg concerns can see what they are doing to the birds. I don't know how they sleep at night. Even a £300 million fortune (Bernard Matthews supposed worth) wouldn't ease my conscience.
The BBC was on again this morning about hobby farmers being a risk. People with only a few birds love them as individuals and care for them well. I doubt a hobby farmer or pet owner has ever played baseball with a live bird :mad:

Let me see... number of hobby farmers having made humungous contributions to political parties - nil.
Number of big businesses making contributions - probably quicker to check the honours list...
So that's all right then. Forming your opinions based on what the government thinks is convenient for you to know is PERFECTLY SAFE.

spiddy100

Hello all

I know there are a few OS-ers who keep chickens and wonder if anyone can give me some sensible advice. My FIL keeps chickens (free-range) and one of his greatest joys is to take our two boys (aged 1 and 2) down to the shed to find eggs. He also has a variety of other birds, some kept in aviaries, some that come and go like the doves. There are numerous wild birds (small ones) which visit the garden too as he has loads of bird feeders, and a flock of swifts who return every year to roost in the next door house's roof.

Is it the case that there is a theoretical risk of infection being passed through the wild birds (or through birds he has bought at sales) to the chickens, and via them to either him or to the kids through contact with the birds' faeces? is there anywhere I can get some realistic information on how much of a risk this is, and whether I should be keeping the kids away from the birds for the time being?

Sorry....... not trying to jump on the 'panic' bandwagon, we will eat poultry no problem but I haven't seen any information about contact with live poultry and/or migrating birds.

lil_me

Spiddy, I doubt many are qualified to answer that, I am sure in my heart that your children are at no higher risk than they were the last time you took them, but I am not in a position to say oh it's no problem, they are your children, and as parents I don't think anyone would even consider you as jumping on the 'panic' wagon as we all have a duty to protect our children.

The guidance and advice I have found so far is on http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/ai/index.htm

spiddy100

Thanks lil_me, I am sure you are right about it being no worse this week than it was last week. It's just so hard to get any sensible answers amongst the scaremongering and the ignorance sometimes. The media are appalling - all the scare stories and none of the facts.

thanks so much for that link, off for a read now. It is definitely a parent thing for me, I would go in the shed myself no problem, but I do get paranoid because the boys are so little.

Justie

spiddy100 wrote:

Hello all

I know there are a few OS-ers who keep chickens and wonder if anyone can give me some sensible advice. My FIL keeps chickens (free-range) and one of his greatest joys is to take our two boys (aged 1 and 2) down to the shed to find eggs. He also has a variety of other birds, some kept in aviaries, some that come and go like the doves. There are numerous wild birds (small ones) which visit the garden too as he has loads of bird feeders, and a flock of swifts who return every year to roost in the next door house's roof.

Is it the case that there is a theoretical risk of infection being passed through the wild birds (or through birds he has bought at sales) to the chickens, and via them to either him or to the kids through contact with the birds' faeces? is there anywhere I can get some realistic information on how much of a risk this is, and whether I should be keeping the kids away from the birds for the time being?

Sorry....... not trying to jump on the 'panic' bandwagon, we will eat poultry no problem but I haven't seen any information about contact with live poultry and/or migrating birds.

chances of his birds getting avian flu will depend on the type of birds visiting his feeders and where he is in the country - if it's blue tits etc then there is no addition risk as they have small territories and are unlikely to carry avian flu of any sort let alone the one in question. If he lives in an area that is on or near a migration route for geese and other wildfowl then there is more of a risk especially if these birds are stopping to use ground feeders (not the peanut or seed feeders raised off the ground) or to drink water. He should make an attempt to change and clean all water daily and to cover ground feed if he is in a migration area but otherwise the chances of being infected are slight (although not impossible it'd be a freak).

If his birds die then he needs to take the appropriate steps to make sure if it's avian flu and what strain it is but it's unlikely his birds would get it unless they have a lot of contact with wildfowl.

As for your children - the good news about avian flu is it is easy to control with good hygiene. Make sure that they wash their hands thoroughly after handling birds, feed and eggs and ideally only let them wear wellies that can be washed off (use a mild detergent if you're worried). Unless you slaughter the chickens etc there is little risk from occasional contact and good hand washing will go a long way to stop any problems.

The human deaths have been almost exclusively in places where chickens are living in the same building as the household and wandering in and out of the living area and being slaughtered by hand. Even then it's not a disease that passes easily to humans.

spiddy100

Thanks Justie, What you say about hygiene is really useful. I worry mainly because like all little children their hands are in and out of their mouths constantly. FIL is very good about getting them to wash their hands when they come in but they will probably have put their fingers in their mouths 20 times while they're in the shed :rolleyes:

I might get them some special wellies to live at Grampy's house.

I will talk to him about the other stuff, he's feeling very defensive about the whole issue as I'm sure a lot of small holders are at the moment but it's good to know where to start

Thanks so much for replying.

Justie

spiddy100 wrote:

Thanks Justie, What you say about hygiene is really useful. I worry mainly because like all little children their hands are in and out of their mouths constantly. FIL is very good about getting them to wash their hands when they come in but they will probably have put their fingers in their mouths 20 times while they're in the shed :rolleyes:

I might get them some special wellies to live at Grampy's house.

I will talk to him about the other stuff, he's feeling very defensive about the whole issue as I'm sure a lot of small holders are at the moment but it's good to know where to start

Thanks so much for replying.

as I say the risks are really really small especially if he's not in places where the geese etc migrate. In general the benefits from being around animals and seeing how food is made etc far outweigh any risks - if the birds end up in an exlusion zone because there is an outbreak in the area then that's an easy choice to postpone visits for a short time but just because we've had one outbreak here doesn't necessarily mean there will be more. I can understand you wanting to understand the risks but in all honestly there really aren't any at the moment.