I was so excited to be adding ducks this year….. but I have put that plan on hold.
You may have heard that a very pathologic strain of bird flu is circulating this year. It is in Michigan, and has been detected in wild birds and in kept flocks, both commercial and backyard. What does very pathologic mean? It seems that this strain is much more likely to cause serious symptoms, including death of infected birds. It doesn’t mean that this strain is more likely to infect humans. But humans can get bird flu, and when they do, symptoms can be severe, and death is not a rare outcome. Fortunately, bird to human transmission is rare, and usually occurs in those living in close proximity to poultry. IE it is very unlikely you would catch the virus unless you are in close contact with infected birds. So please don’t get worried and stop eating eggs! (Although be warned, you can expect that prices will likely go up across the country, as chicken farmers incorporate added precautions and infected commercial flocks are euthanized to prevent spread.) I remain comfortable working with my chickens, but since I have daily contact, I am incorporating a bit more precaution into our daily routines. The virus is found in secretions from the eyes and respiratory tract as well as in droppings of infected birds. Humans can catch the virus by inhaling droplets sneezed by infected birds or the dust from their bedding or droppings. So to minimize my and Gary’s risk I have designated a pair of old rubber boots as my “chicken house and chicken yard only” boots, to be sure that I am never walking in to our house in boots that have just been in the chicken house or chicken yard. And I will also pick up a pair of chicken house specific coveralls in the next few days, to be used when cleaning the chicken house (which needs doing!). Those will be taken off as soon as I am done, and will also not come in to the house. I have already been wearing a dust mask when I clean the coop, so I will transition that to a KN95 mask when I am cleaning. Just so happens I have a supply of those around! Small changes, that are easy to make, to err on the side of caution.
But what about the chickens themselves? Obviously, I want to do everything I can to protect my birds from contracting avian influenza. I definitely don’t want to become Becky’s Bees but No Birds! Since I don’t visit other chicken flocks and their keepers don’t visit mine, I am not at risk of being a vector to transport the virus into my flock. But I am not the only possible vector. Preventing any interactions between wild birds and my flock is recommended. To do that perfectly can only be achieved by keeping my 25 hens and 2 roosters inside 24/7. My hen house is large enough to accommodate the chicken’s nest boxes, and has ample room for when they come in at night to roost, but it isn’t spacious for that number of birds. During the day, when the coop door is open, the chickens don’t hang out inside, unless it is extremely cold or snowing heavily. When weather demands that they seek cover, they generally like to hang out in the sheltered space under the coop instead. I feel strongly that there is not enough space inside the coop for the chickens to live comfortably and humanely for a prolonged period, and I am pretty sure the chickens agree. Not to mention they would be miserable giving up their daily foraging expeditions. Remember what happened when we were trying to sort out what to do about Bella hunting the chickens? So, after carefully weighing the risks, and quality of life for my birds, I have decided to let the chickens continue to forage outside.
However, I did stop filling the wild bird feeders. Every time I let the chickens out, they make a beeline for feeders, to scavenge for dropped seeds. That seemed a bit problematic. I looked up recommendations. Since song birds don’t seem to be particularly susceptible to the virus, at this time, taking down wild bird feeders is not being recommended as a control measure. Good news, right!? Seemed that way right up until I got to the end of the line, which said “UNLESS YOU KEEP POULTRY”. The information I found suggests that although the song birds who are visiting the feeder are not thought to be a big risk to my chickens, other birds that forage underneath may be. Examples provided were turkeys, ducks or geese. And although I have never seen ducks or geese under my feeders, we have definitely had wild turkeys visiting to look for fallen seed. So, when I ran out of bird seed for the feeders this week, I did not replace it. We will miss the visiting birds, and they clearly miss the food. I can see some now, looking for the feeders. But spring is here and hopefully nature will provide for them.
I also had another decision to make. As it turns out, wild waterfowl, ie ducks and geese, are a particular issue for this virus as they seem to be one of the major vectors, and can carry and transmit it without becoming ill. Avoiding interactions between domestic poultry flocks and wild water birds is one of the strongest recommendations for prevention. Since my chickens are not in the habit of wandering down to the pond to forage, and definitely have no interest in going for a swim, that isn’t a big issue. But what about the ducks I was planning to add to my poultry flock this year? The ducklings were already ordered, scheduled to arrive in June. Ducks are adorably cute, but more importantly, since ducks continue to lay eggs through the winter, I was counting on them to help sustain our egg supply when the chickens enter their winter egg lull. But I also want the ducks to be able to free range with the chickens. And unlike the chickens, ducks may very well want to wander down to the pond to swim. And wild ducks raise duckling there every year. Hard to be confident there would be no interactions! So what to do? I stewed about it for a couple of weeks, but finally had to admit that as much as I would love to add a couple of ducks to the flock, at this time doing so could endanger the wellbeing of the birds I already have. So, I called and canceled the duck order. SIGH! Hopefully this strain of bird flu will settle, and I can try again next year.