Production worry amid 'chicken lockdown'

A poultry farmer said the new national mandatory housing order by the Animal and Plant Health Agency could impact production

A Devon poultry farmer said new rules and regulations to prevent spreading a bird flu virus was essentially a "lockdown for chickens".

The new national mandatory housing order by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) was brought into force in England on 6 November with the aim to bring avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 infection rates down.

Sam Ursell from Windout Farm, in Exeter, Devon, said the farm operated an organic breeding flock of about 3,500 hens and cockerels and hatched about 1,300 chicks a week.

He said the flock could be locked in for six months, which may cause stress for the birds as they are used to being able to roam large areas.

"Effectively it's chicken lockdown," he said.

"They could be locked in for six months and so the stress levels for those birds when they're not used to that will go up and that'll probably affect their production."

Mr Ursell said they have added interest to the shed such as boxes for them to peck, hanging bails and playing music.

He said the disease can "wipe out a flock very quickly".

"It is incredibly virulent and extremely hard to protect against," Mr Ursell added.

"It could be bought in on an item of clothing or vermin could get into the shed.

"It's very worrying for a lot of us chicken and poultry producers."

APHA said the bird flu virus could infect mammals, including cats, dogs, ferrets and other animals.

The agency advised owners to stop their pets from having close contact with dead or sick wild birds as they could be infected, droppings, feathers, or carcases of wild birds and asked for sightings to be reported.

It also advises to keep them away from food and water bowls that wild birds could have accessed.