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Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 8:24 am Post subject: Put your birds inside
On the off chance any here still has livestock. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38231416

tim_and_nicky

Joined: 28 Nov 2008
Posts: 261
Location: Beautiful Galicia, NW Spain

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 9:54 am Post subject:
The sparrows fly in and eat the chicken food, hard to exclude them without just shutting the birds up completely. I am not sorry about the foie gras tho, it is cruel and the sooner it is stopped the better.

yummersetter

Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 10:32 am Post subject:

Quote:

The British Poultry Council said eggs ( . . from confined birds in sheds) could still be sold as free range because the measures were compulsory.

but . . but . . if the eggs are not actually laid by free-ranging chickens then that's a fib.

People are suggesting keeping small numbers of chickens in polytunnels but I'd have to start trying to catch our flighty five at lunchtime in order to get them back into their sturdy house in the orchard by sunset.

December . . just when the orchards have so many thousands of visiting birds cleaning up the fallen fruit that you have to shout to be heard above the racket.

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4630
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 10:35 am Post subject:
Last time I heard of precautions taken in the east riding, it was thought acceptable for small producers to have outdoor pens with netted tops, with the key aims being to deter wild birds from perching and pooping near food and water supplies. This sounds more feasible than shutting anything right up, I reckon?

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 5:17 pm Post subject:

I've just been reading this with horror. I'm really going to struggle to comply now that these measures have been implemented in Wales.
I have numerous ducks and hens which have the complete run of our smallholding during the daytime. I let them out in the morning and they free range until I lock them up at night. They are then in what are quite small but cosy sheds. I definitely couldn't lock them up in those 24/7 for a 30 day period, I'm going to have to do some serious thinking.

I keep geese and ducks and I've been told that a guy came on the TV this morning who apparently said that for welfare reasons, geese and ducks might not have to be put under cover as long as they have their food and water placed under cover away from wild birds. I've just spent half the day getting outbuildings sorted for mine but I'd be more than happy not to have to keep them indoors for the next thirty days.

As of a short while ago, I'm in a position now to get all my chickens away from wild birds but as I've just said, its my geese that I'm concerned about.
IMO they're far more dependent on being free range than my chickens. I say this because the original chickens in the wild, were birds of the jungle floor, so by nature, they're not so dependent on the wide open spaces. Ducks and geese, however most definitely are.. We could do with some definitive guidance as to what restrictions we need to implement when it comes to webbed poultry. My geese are currently eating lots of grass and receive a small amount of grain morning and night. They're grazers and they can't do much grazing if they're on concrete.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46217
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 6:31 pm Post subject:

hope you can all find a way to "comply" that covers the practical and necessary without harming the flocks or you.

i made tt book a flu jab for the morning ,which was moderately tricky but as her asthma and flu do not mix well it seemed worth the grumbling. not as tricky as housing a bunch of wanderers at short notice.

i spose the free range turkey and other seasonal fowl trade will probably bring slaughter forward by a week or so and chill em a bit longer?. if they cant it could wipe em out economically to have to slaughter too soon and virtually give them away . how long does a turkey or goose last if chilled? . i recon a week tops is enough for fowl but i think some go cold for longer but it does not seem like 3 weeks in a fridge would be ok?

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 6:39 pm Post subject:

OK see what you think of this.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu

From what I can see, it looks as though my geese can remain on free range as long as I make sure that their food and water is placed under cover and out of reach of wild birds but what about my ducks? What constitutes it being impractical to keep them locked up for the next 30 days? Currently every night I herd fifteen ducks into a 10x 10 pig sty to keep them safe from the fox. They're let out every morning into our fields to forage and I don't think its practical to keep them in there any longer than I do already. I have nowhere else to put them? What do you think?

Green Rosie

Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 8:17 pm Post subject:

It has now been announced that poultry in Normandy must be kept inside. Luckily my bird numbers are at a minimum - turkeys already slaughtered, ducks just 3 and 14 layers. I was thinking about putting the hens in the polytunnel but doubt it is fox proof - but I could put the ducks in there and then shut them in a dog cage in there at night. I can probably put the hens in the barn next to the pigs but I will need to rig up a door as the last one broke and maybe add extra fencing to stop them getting through to the pigs ... all of this should be doable if blommin' inconvenient. I really feel for you, Bodger with no easy solution.

I was also thinking about a foot dip for my boots before going in to the poultry. Would a solution of bleach be OK or do I need to buy something specialist?

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 8:19 pm Post subject:
Bleach will be fine. It's a virus innit.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 8:21 pm Post subject:
If it lives thru bleach, we have bigger problems.

Green Rosie

Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 8:22 pm Post subject:
Bleach it is then!

Green Rosie

Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 8:31 pm Post subject:
What strength solution?

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 8:36 pm Post subject:
Generous dollop in a washing-up bowl of water.

Green Rosie

Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 10498
Location: Calvados, France

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 8:39 pm Post subject:
Sounds good to me, thanks Sean

mousjoos

Joined: 05 Jun 2006
Posts: 1986
Location: VERY Sunny SW France

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 16 8:49 pm Post subject:
My hens stay in their pen now; the top is netted & they're fed morning & evening, & the food doesn't hang around long enough for other birds to shit on it...they said here a few months back that folks with chooks hd to declare them in order to pay a "tax" that would finance research & therefore better protection of poultry flocks....yeah right! that died a death pdq

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