Threat of bird flu to send free-range chickens indoors

Ministry prepares new guidelines for spring migration

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The threat of bird flu is leading to new guidelines for poultry farms in Finland.
      Under regulations that are under preparation, free-range chickens would have to be kept inside in certain areas considered to be at risk during the annual spring migration of birds to Finland. The feeding places of outdoor birds, such as ostriches, would have to be constructed in a manner that keeps wild water birds away.
      The aim of the regulations is to prevent interaction between wild birds and poultry, in order to minimise the risk of the spread of the bird flu virus to domesticated birds.
      Sirpa Kiviruusu of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says that risk areas include poultry farms that are near places where migratory birds convene and rest.
      Most such places are along Finland’s coasts. In the east of Finland, there are duck, and goose farms, which could be at risk.
      The new rules are to come into force in March, when the spring migration begins.
     
Kiviruusu says that the greatest impact of the new regulations will be on free-range chicken farms, where the chickens are usually let outside whenever the weather permits.
      Most turkeys and chickens are grown inside anyway, and will be mostly unaffected by the precautions.
      Ostriches, which need space to run, are to be provided food in protected enclosures.
     
The importance of migratory birds in the spread of bird flu remains unknown.
      Many water fowl are non-symptomatic carriers of the low-pathogen virus type. The more dangerous strain has rarely been encountered among birds in the wild.
      A number of swans were found in a nature park in Croatia in October, and were diagnosed as having had the more serious H5N1 strain. The infected birds were either dead or ill.
      "Healthy, wild birds have not been found with the high-pathogen virus", Kiviruusu emphasises.
      She also says that it is not known if wild birds with the disease are capable of carrying the virus long distances.
     
Lauri Hänninen, information officer of BirdLife Finland, says that there is no reason to fear wild birds.
      "It has not been proven that wild birds would spread bird flu", he says.
      However, he feels that separating wild water fowl and domestic poultry from each other is a good precaution - also for the sake of the wild birds.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland to take part in EU bird flu drill (8.11.2005)

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