Backyard keepers brood over 'vital' bird register

Ray Holmes with his rescue hen Norma Collier. He has registered six birds but opposes penalties for backyard keepers

People who keep pet chickens are being urged to register them ahead of a legal deadline designed to prevent fresh outbreaks of bird flu.

Owners who fail to do so by Tuesday risk being fined or even imprisoned, though officials have stressed any punishment would be "proportionate".

Farmers say registration is "vital" to protect the poultry population, but some backyard keepers have branded it "bureaucracy gone crazy".

Jorge Martin-Almagro, the government’s deputy chief veterinary officer, warned against complacency about avian influenza, despite a lack of recent reported cases in captive birds.

It follows the largest outbreak on record in the UK, with more than 360 cases confirmed and millions of birds culled between October 2021 and February this year.

Derek Smith says he makes no profit from the four eggs his rescue hens lay each day

Ray Holmes has registered the six rescue hens he keeps on an allotment in Hessle, East Yorkshire.

But he objects to the prospect of backyard keepers being penalised should they fail to follow his example.

"We have got wildlife flying over," he said. "There are geese flying over in a morning now. Who knows what is dropping from the sky?"

It is a sentiment shared by Derek Smith, a fellow allotment holder who owns four hens.

"I get four eggs a day," he said. "It is not worth a potential £2,500 fine if I have filled the form in incorrectly. It's bureaucracy gone crazy."

James Porter, who has one of the largest flocks in Lincolnshire, believes registration is crucial

However, James Porter, a Lincolnshire farmer who produces seven million chickens for Sainsbury's each year, said it was "absolutely vital" to register.

Thanks to strict biosecurity measures, his flocks have never caught the disease, but he said he had watched fellow farmers suffer.

About one million birds were culled in Lincolnshire following an outbreak in December 2021.

Mr Porter, who has a flock of 880,000 birds, added: "I know the effect these diseases can have on people's livelihoods.

"When their whole flock is taken out – most of them never come back from that.”

'Top priority'

In May this year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs declared the UK free from cases of avian influenza in kept birds.

However, Mr Martin-Almagro confirmed bird flu was present in the wild bird population.

He said "mapping" the location of all captive birds was a "top priority".

The register has been designed to allow government vets to rapidly deal with any future outbreak, as opposed to wasting resources locating keepers.

Officials have stressed advice and guidance will be provided to individuals who fail to register, with formal enforcement action being taken only in cases of repeated non-compliance.

Avian influenza is caused by a virus that infects birds and sometimes other animals, such as foxes, seals and otters.

The major strain is a type of the virus known as H5N1. It emerged in China in the late 1990s.

The virus has, in very rare cases, infected humans and scientists say the current risk to people is low.

However, earlier this year experts warned the virus was spreading to cattle and decimating wildlife around the world.

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