Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information

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Re: Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information
« Reply #225 on: April 13, 2017, 11:33 »
I'm in a high risk area as well, so mine are staying in for now, but there is a lot you can do to keep them busy.

You can hang up cabbage, or spring greens to peck.  Their mixed corn germinates into a thick mat of wheat grass that will grow in seed trays or pots, same with grass seed.  You could even pot up a few dandelions to grow for them.

Chickens are very adaptable creatures.  Mine have accepted confinement without much fuss at all.  I have fully enclosed runs, so I scatter seeds for them as well (the finch type mixes that take a long time to pick up) as well as their treats of greens.

If you want contact with them, a handful of seeds get mine over to eat out of my hand  :)

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Manxminx

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Re: Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information
« Reply #226 on: April 14, 2017, 11:39 »
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Mine have accepted confinement without much fuss at all.
Lucky you, as I said, mine haven't. Of course I've been scattering seeds, that's why they've scratched the flower bed and grass until there's nothing left and it all needs replanting.

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If you want contact with them, a handful of seeds get mine over to eat out of my hand  :)
Eh? As I said in my post, they are in a netted area, I'm (obviously) outside it. It's physically impossible for me to have direct contact with them unless I let them out of the netted area. And if I do that they will jump over the garden gate.
I dream of a better world where Chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned.

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Re: Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information
« Reply #227 on: April 14, 2017, 12:00 »
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Mine have accepted confinement without much fuss at all.
Lucky you, as I said, mine haven't. Of course I've been scattering seeds, that's why they've scratched the flower bed and grass until there's nothing left and it all needs replanting.

It was just a friendly suggestion Manxminx.  You didn't mention scattering seeds so I wouldn't have known, would I?

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If you want contact with them, a handful of seeds get mine over to eat out of my hand  :)
Eh? As I said in my post, they are in a netted area, I'm (obviously) outside it. It's physically impossible for me to have direct contact with them unless I let them out of the netted area. And if I do that they will jump over the garden gate.

I can't get inside my small run either, but I can reach in to hand feed, same as I can reach in to replenish the water and food  :)

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ghost61

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Re: Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information
« Reply #228 on: April 14, 2017, 12:02 »
All restrictions (except preventative measures re bio security) were lifted on Thursday for England.  Someone must have told my girls, as they lined up by the gate to their run at 6.30am and wouldn't shut up until they were released!

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Mum2mj

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Re: Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information
« Reply #229 on: April 14, 2017, 14:44 »
All restrictions (except preventative measures re bio security) were lifted on Thursday for England.  Someone must have told my girls, as they lined up by the gate to their run at 6.30am and wouldn't shut up until they were released!

I was also about to post that the ban has thankfully at long last been lifted 👍 woo hoo 😊

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Manxminx

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Re: Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information
« Reply #230 on: April 14, 2017, 15:33 »
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You didn't mention scattering seeds so I wouldn't have known, would I?
Sorry, I thought it would go without saying that I've been doing things like that, hanging up cabbages etc. It's all part of basic chicken keeping.

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same as I can reach in to replenish the water and food
I do that at night once they've gone to bed. If I try to lift a small section of the netting during the day they try to force themselves out through it, which only increases both their and my stress levels.

I'm probably going to do as I had previously decided and wait until the end of the month (hopefully there'll be more insects and snails etc about by then) and then let them out. If they jump over the gate and go exploring freely then that's their right and I won't be trying to stop them.




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Re: Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information
« Reply #231 on: April 15, 2017, 10:03 »
All restrictions (except preventative measures re bio security) were lifted on Thursday for England.  Someone must have told my girls, as they lined up by the gate to their run at 6.30am and wouldn't shut up until they were released!

I was also about to post that the ban has thankfully at long last been lifted 👍 woo hoo 😊

The ban has been lifted but if you are in a high risk area, you are still required to apply bio-security measures. These effectively put you on the same level as everyone else when the restrictions were eased last time i.e. fenced runs, deterring wild birds and keeping them away from feed and water.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/608533/ai-prevention-zone-rules-from-13-april-2017.pdf

My garden is full of wild birds and I have a wildlife pond a.k.a. wild bird drinking station.  If I leave the run doors open, the sparrows and the robins are straight in there.  I'm sure the risk from them is low, but it is cross contamination.

I also get geese flying over morning and evening.  I am a bit more suspect of them as they could easily pick up the virus and pass it on.  Reading has huge populations of swans, ducks and geese, as so many people feed them and the river is lined with playing fields where they have as much grass as they want.

As things warm up, the risk gets less and less as the virus degrades much faster, so hopefully not too long before we get a full all clear  :)


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Re: Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information
« Reply #232 on: April 15, 2017, 10:06 »
I'm probably going to do as I had previously decided and wait until the end of the month (hopefully there'll be more insects and snails etc about by then) and then let them out. If they jump over the gate and go exploring freely then that's their right and I won't be trying to stop them.

That's a pretty good, common sense approach  :)  I was thinking along the same lines.  If no further outbreaks occur and the weather stays warm, so the virus doesn't hang about, the risk is low enough imo.

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Paul Plots

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Re: Bird Avian Flu Outbreak Information
« Reply #233 on: April 23, 2017, 01:38 »
My budgies are in and out of their covered flight enjoying the warmer weather and looking for rain - they love it.

It was getting too warm for them to stay shut in the bird room so...... here's hoping.
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