And hence, millions of chickens culled. Anyone claiming the latest egg prices are somehow Trumps fault are liars, but we already knew that.

https://apnews.com/article/business-health-environment-iowa-animals-d76524dace2b34e2cb0dc25925cead65

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Is it OK for free-range chickens to not range freely?

That's a question free-range egg producers have been pondering lately as they try to be open about their product while also protecting chickens from a highly infectious bird flu that has resulted in the death of roughly 28 million poultry birds across the country.

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https://www.thegazette.com/agriculture/avian-flu-from-wild-birds-may-pose-more-risk-to-free-range-chickens/

Quote:

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Free-range chickens may have greater exposure to bird flu than their caged compatriots because the free flocks have access to outdoor areas that could be visited by wild birds believed to be a primary carrier of the disease this year.

Farmers Hen House, which buys eggs from 50 producers many Amish or Mennonite farmers who raise organic, free-range chickens is prepared to scale up protective measures if the virus is detected in Eastern Iowa.

"There are many chances for birds to be in direct contact with wild birds, which is definitely a concern for us right now with the wild bird migration," said Laura Jacobs, compliance manager and director of animal operations for the Kalona egg company.

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28 million dead, but at least you feel better about eating a farm product right?

Yes, this is from 2022, but the principal is the same. As you force manufacturers to have open range hens, it increases their risk of having to kill out their whole flock.

Almost everything with democrats is the opposite of its given label.

I don't think anyone HONESTLY thinks the rise in egg prices are trump's fault any more than anyone HONESTLY thought it was Biden's fault the last time this happened.

That seems counter intuitive to me. Wouldn't the chickens being held together in close proximity increase the risk of spreading the disease?

aggiehawg said:

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That seems counter intuitive to me. Wouldn't the chickens being held together in close proximity increase the risk of spreading the disease?

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Free range chickens can catch infected sky poop. No im not kidding.

Comes down to biosecurity. You keep your workers sanitized before entering and don't allow wild birds into the coup.

Your article doesn't mention California.

Here is the exact quote from the article.

The farms Brunnquell contracts with are in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin, all of which have had at least once case of bird flu.

Last I heard none of those places are in California.

Both Colorado and California passed caged free requirements back in 2020. Being that those two states get most of their chickens/eggs out of states, it forced chicken farmers IN OTHER STATES to change how they raise their chickens.

Jeeper79 said:

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I don't think anyone HONESTLY thinks the rise in egg prices are trump's fault any more than anyone HONESTLY thought it was Biden's fault the last time this happened.

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Per the talking heads in TV, trump has been in office for 2 weeks and egg prices haven't gone down. Seems like some seem to think it *is* his fault

Sounds like we need chickens that free-range inside of huge barns

Philip J Fry said:

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Comes down to biosecurity. You keep your workers sanitized before entering and don't allow wild birds into the coup.

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Oh. Okay that makes sense.

Thank you.

DrEvazanPhD said:

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Jeeper79 said:

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I don't think anyone HONESTLY thinks the rise in egg prices are trump's fault any more than anyone HONESTLY thought it was Biden's fault the last time this happened.

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Per the talking heads in TV, trump has been in office for 2 weeks and egg prices haven't gone down. Seems like some seem to think it *is* his fault

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They say it is, but they don't actually believe it.

Jason C. said:

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Sounds like we need chickens that free-range inside of huge barns

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Put solar panels on top, rather than on good farmland.

California cage free chicken requirements cause increased spread of bird flu

Of course they increase spread - disaster waiting to happen.

However, I am sick of killing all these chickens for bird flu. Let's just forget about it, declare it endemic here. We may not be able to sell our poultry products to countries that don't have bird flu but we should be able to survive without those export markets.

Philip J Fry said:

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Comes down to biosecurity. You keep your workers sanitized before entering and don't allow wild birds into the coup.

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Absolutely. Not only do my boots get decontaminated, but my truck gets nuked when I visit one of my poultry clients.

Seems like the last time I checked, over 150,000,000 chickens have been killed over this stuff.

Why don't we come up with a vaccine for bird flu?

(Half serious)

Jack Squat 83 said:

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Why don't we come up with a vaccine for bird flu?

(Half serious)

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Who's going to take it?

Jeeper79 said:

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Jack Squat 83 said:

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Why don't we come up with a vaccine for bird flu?

(Half serious)

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Who's going to take it?

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The vaccine is for the birds, not people. We already vaccinate birds, but AI's strain variability makes it practically impossible to produce a successful vaccine that could be given to the birds.

Just got back from IPPE (Poultry Expo in ATL) and don't expect it to get better anytime soon. I've been told by reliable sources that it recently hit a genetics farm which could produce a massive ripple effect as these genetics farms produce the breeders that produce the broilers that end up on the grocery shelves.

Popping up in NE GA currently and the density of the farms in those areas is very concerning.

I'm confused about the need to just destroy them too. I thought the whole point of pasteurizing the eggs was to kill anything that shouldn't be in there.

Are we really killing off our food supply because we are worried about bird to human transmission?

knoxtom said:

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Your article doesn't mention California.

Here is the exact quote from the article.

The farms Brunnquell contracts with are in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin, all of which have had at least once case of bird flu.

Last I heard none of those places are in California.

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California has cage free requirements for everything entering it and being sold in it, so all of those places must meet California's cage free requirements to sell there even if they're not located there. That means distributors and producers either have California chickens and everyone else chickens and get forced to document what chickens went where to satisfy California, or just adopt California's requirements to avoid the overhead and administrative burden.

Jeeper79 said:

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DrEvazanPhD said:

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Jeeper79 said:

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I don't think anyone HONESTLY thinks the rise in egg prices are trump's fault any more than anyone HONESTLY thought it was Biden's fault the last time this happened.

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Per the talking heads in TV, trump has been in office for 2 weeks and egg prices haven't gone down. Seems like some seem to think it *is* his fault

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They say it is, but they don't actually believe it.

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So that makes it…better?

Philip J Fry said:

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I'm confused about the need to just destroy them too. I thought the whole point of pasteurizing the eggs was to kill anything that shouldn't be in there.

Are we really killing off our food supply because we are worried about bird to human transmission?

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Short answer is no, we're worried about bird transmission.

From what I understand it's a really fast killer and will burn through a flock, so killing them all is kind of inevitable. Another problem is that survivors may become carriers, which is also bad because they'll just spread it to any new/replacement birds. It's better to just euthanize the flock and start over.

It also helps limit transmission and speed up disposal of the infected birds. You don't want other animals like vultures or something getting to them, getting interested or picking up the virus, and then spreading it around even more in the wild and potentially to nearby flocks.

On the one hand, screw Cali and their stupid requirements on everything, but on the other hand, shame on those companies for complying. They should all have told Cali, fine get your own eggs/oil/cars/whatever.

ABATTBQ11 said:

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knoxtom said:

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Your article doesn't mention California.

Here is the exact quote from the article.

The farms Brunnquell contracts with are in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin, all of which have had at least once case of bird flu.

Last I heard none of those places are in California.

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California has cage free requirements for everything entering it and being sold in it, so all of those places must meet California's cage free requirements to sell there even if they're not located there. That means distributors and producers either have California chickens and everyone else chickens and get forced to document what chickens went where to satisfy California, or just adopt California's requirements to avoid the overhead and administrative burden.

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Like cars and California's tard ass requirements in that market.

I only buy cage free tomatoes

Think about who this really benefits? The very large chicken and egg producers is who this benefits, the cage free guys are probably smaller and they basically have a greater chance of getting eliminated…. Brilliant idea for large producers whose chickens are all in large enclosed facilities

ABATTBQ11 said:

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Philip J Fry said:

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I'm confused about the need to just destroy them too. I thought the whole point of pasteurizing the eggs was to kill anything that shouldn't be in there.

Are we really killing off our food supply because we are worried about bird to human transmission?

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Short answer is no, we're worried about bird transmission.

From what I understand it's a really fast killer and will burn through a flock, so killing them all is kind of inevitable. Another problem is that survivors may become carriers, which is also bad because they'll just spread it to any new/replacement birds. It's better to just euthanize the flock and start over.

It also helps limit transmission and speed up disposal of the infected birds. You don't want other animals like vultures or something getting to them, getting interested or picking up the virus, and then spreading it around even more in the wild and potentially to nearby flocks.

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Is the meat usable or do they just toss the carcasses?

From the article only 1.2% of eggs comes from free range and about 2% of broilers are free range. Article says hens ate 2% free range. Those are probable the ones that produce eggs then chicks for the free range flock operations

https://www.humanesociety.org/blog/40-percent-hens-eggs-cage-free-united-states

Quote:

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We just hit another milestone in our work to improve the lives of farm animals: According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 40% of hens used for eggs in the U.S. are now cage-free. We and our allies are transforming this massive $10 billion industry. Just 15 years ago, only 3% of hens used commercially were cage-free. This shift means that more than 100 million hens every year are spared from suffering in cages.

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I think there are difference standards for free range vs cage free

From the article you posted

Quote:

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Commercial outdoor flocks make up only a small percentage of U.S. egg production. About 6 million hens, or 2% of national flock, are free-range and about 4.2 million hens, or 1.3% of U.S. egg production, are from pasture-raised chickens.

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fullback44 said:

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Think about who this really benefits? The very large chicken and egg producers is who this benefits, the cage free guys are probably smaller and they basically have a greater chance of getting eliminated…. Brilliant idea for large producers whose chickens are all in large enclosed facilities

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You're obviously speaking from a position of ignorance on this topic. Large egg producers have zero benefit of losing over 50MM birds the last year and give zero f**** about the free range producers. Their market share is negligible in the grand scheme of things.

Keep it up though. I'm sure you'll get something right eventually.

Signed,
Industry professional with a TAMU degree in Poultry Science

Philip J Fry said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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Philip J Fry said:

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I'm confused about the need to just destroy them too. I thought the whole point of pasteurizing the eggs was to kill anything that shouldn't be in there.

Are we really killing off our food supply because we are worried about bird to human transmission?

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Short answer is no, we're worried about bird transmission.

From what I understand it's a really fast killer and will burn through a flock, so killing them all is kind of inevitable. Another problem is that survivors may become carriers, which is also bad because they'll just spread it to any new/replacement birds. It's better to just euthanize the flock and start over.

It also helps limit transmission and speed up disposal of the infected birds. You don't want other animals like vultures or something getting to them, getting interested or picking up the virus, and then spreading it around even more in the wild and potentially to nearby flocks.

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Is the meat usable or do they just toss the carcasses?

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No. Birds are culled and destroyed.

Philip J Fry said:

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https://www.humanesociety.org/blog/40-percent-hens-eggs-cage-free-united-states

Quote:

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We just hit another milestone in our work to improve the lives of farm animals: According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 40% of hens used for eggs in the U.S. are now cage-free. We and our allies are transforming this massive $10 billion industry. Just 15 years ago, only 3% of hens used commercially were cage-free. This shift means that more than 100 million hens every year are spared from suffering in cages.

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Cage free =/= free range or pasture raised.

Cage free means they're still housed in commercial barns, but the aviaries are not enclosed. The birds have the ability to roam and perch within the confines of the house. There are nest boxes in the houses that they'll hop into to lay the eggs.

Philip J Fry said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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Philip J Fry said:

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I'm confused about the need to just destroy them too. I thought the whole point of pasteurizing the eggs was to kill anything that shouldn't be in there.

Are we really killing off our food supply because we are worried about bird to human transmission?

---

Short answer is no, we're worried about bird transmission.

From what I understand it's a really fast killer and will burn through a flock, so killing them all is kind of inevitable. Another problem is that survivors may become carriers, which is also bad because they'll just spread it to any new/replacement birds. It's better to just euthanize the flock and start over.

It also helps limit transmission and speed up disposal of the infected birds. You don't want other animals like vultures or something getting to them, getting interested or picking up the virus, and then spreading it around even more in the wild and potentially to nearby flocks.

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Is the meat usable or do they just toss the carcasses?

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No. From what I understand this will kill within about 24 hours, so a lot of chickens are dead or dying by the time they're culled. They also don't want to do a lot of processing or anything because that just spreads virus particles around and risks reinfection.

Gaeilge said:

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Signed,
Industry professional with a TAMU degree in Poultry Science

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Could you tell me if I'm correct on any of this? I've tried to do reading on it and am genuinely curious about. It seemed a little nonsensical to me when I first heard about it but made a lot more sense the more I tried to learn about it.