Bird Flu - Should You Be Afraid Of It?

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Chickens in the fall are considered: about bird flu without panic and hysteria

On weekends, I go to Kingisepp for food for my animals. For dogs, I usually buy chicken legs and heads. Recently, when she saw me loading the bags, a woman grabbed me and began to dissuade me from buying, frightening me with bird flu. I had to explain in detail why I am not afraid of him.

The people gathered, each expressed his point of view. Public opinion was clearly not on my side. The media did their dirty work. I had to revealingly eat a piece of raw chicken meat, kindly served by the saleswoman, and promise to come every week not only alive, but also healthy!

A year ago, in our chicken community, we made a decision that we do not take part in the hysteria about bird flu and we will not speak out on this topic in print, but I can't. Every day, on the phone and personally, different people torment me with questions: is it possible to eat chicken, buy chickens in spring, hatch chickens, maybe it is better to slaughter the bird in advance? Moreover, people are not afraid of the flu, it is difficult to scare our people with some kind of infection, and they have not experienced this, they are more afraid of uncles in protective overalls. If an epidemic occurs, it will not matter to them that your chickens are pets, not farm animals, they will be put alive in a bag and burned in a barrel of diesel fuel.

Bird flu is not the worst disease, just the most publicized, the bird has been sick with it before, even when not only you and me, but also mammals were not there yet, which is why over the long years of evolution it has adapted to fight it. I promise the infection will subside. Simply, by 2008 we in Russia had to reach such a level of poultry meat production, which would cover our needs by 100%, which would allow us to refuse to purchase it anywhere. So who will let us, if we subsidized foreign economies for so long?

What are we now - to ruin the domestic poultry farming with our own hands? Here the adversaries will rejoice! I have already heard the cry of several employees of the regional poultry farms that the sales volume has dropped sharply. People are afraid to buy chickens, they say. And the sale in the markets was banned. So, about phobias in order.

Should I be afraid? No, we must beware and follow the sanitary rules. Should we breed chickens? Required. They will still sit in your closed room until warm, and there the flight of wild birds will end, and the threat of infection is blowjob. For chickens, it is easy to build an indoor aviary that is completely isolated from the outside world.

Should you buy an adult bird? Of course it is. The worst thing that threatens her is to sit in the barn until the end of June. So all the same, because June is rainy here, she just gets cold. It can also be released into the aviary if it is fenced with a fine mesh and has a roof, even if it is made of polyethylene.

Say, it's good to give advice. I boast: I myself have already bred 42 chicks, they have gone to the second month, their parents are alive and well, I am going to lay eggs taken from another farm in the incubator. The snow will begin to melt, I will fence the yard so that the sparrow does not fly, and I will release birds into it. I will plant more onions on a green feather, I will feed it to chickens, so our ancestors also fought against viral diseases of birds. A very effective remedy.

In spring, in our cold and damp climate, the bird often gets sick, sometimes dies, do not panic in vain. A chicken can sneeze not because of the flu, but from a cold. Of course, if you are not experienced enough to determine this, it is best to contact your veterinarian. In case of a mass disease, this must be done unambiguously.

Now about the "evil uncles" from the Ministry of Emergencies. If your bird is healthy and isolated during the epidemic, they are not afraid of you. You have every right to not let them in. Moreover, do not let anyone outside your chicken coop, even if they are representatives of the sanitary service with good intentions. Only - if they are properly equipped and come to vaccinate the bird, which you should be warned about in advance. Vaccination is an official procedure, if you purchased a vaccine somewhere and pierced your bird yourself, this will not be recognized by the sanitary authorities. Do not be afraid of vaccinations, and you can eat meat and eggs after that. Do you know how many times industrial poultry is vaccinated in factories!

By the way, if you are so afraid of chicken meat from a poultry farm, wash it in warm water and soak it for an hour in a weak solution of acetic acid. The influenza virus is afraid of an acidic environment, and dies at + 50 ° C. So well-done or cooked meat is absolutely safe. It turns out very tasty if chicken meat is kept in soy sauce, which also contains vinegar. Egg shells can simply be washed under the tap with dishwashing liquid. But I would not recommend buying questionable pastries on the street. And in general, as one friend of mine recently commented on this topic, who was born to die of bird flu from vodka will not die!

Start a bird, do not be afraid, only objectively assess your capabilities. This year, the birds will have to pay a little more time and attention. Take care of the bedding material, change straw or sawdust often. Purchase disinfectants in advance. Place a rug by the door of the coop with some chlorine-based solution and dry your feet. Buy bagged feed and are best sourced from local feed mills. Do not buy compound feed where it is sold in bulk, where pigeons fly, rats run. If you doubt - then buy grain and steam it, you can brew the granules with boiling water.

Do not allow the bird to be crowded, remove the excess in advance, especially the old, weak, recovered from something. Add citric or succinic acid to your drinks in small amounts.

These simple measures will reliably protect your pets from the danger of infection. Let's believe it's best that this attack will bypass us!