B-1 83 said:
chickencoupe16 said:
txaggiefarmer05 said:
In one of our grain outlook meetings last month we were going over the spread of bird flu and our economist mentioned it would be two years(I'm assuming after no trace is found) before chickens can be reintroduced. Kind of surprised me for that long of a moratorium, but that's the only timeframe I've heard.
2 years would quite literally bankrupt operations and would provide no actual benefit in controlling the disease. He is either misinformed or you misunderstood. 2 years would be a reasonable estimate for the egg industry to recover IF HPAI magically disappeared tomorrow, so maybe that was what he was getting at?
From USDA-APHIS:
Quote:
After cleaning and disinfection, environmental samples are collected and tested to
confirm that the virus is no longer present. Animal health officials will determine the
number and frequency of samples needed and will collect them accordingly. The samples
will be tested at a designated laboratory, usually the National Veterinary Services
Laboratories in Ames, IA.
In general, premises must remain empty for a minimum number of days after the
completion of cleaning and disinfection to ensure that any residual virus has been
eliminated. For HPAI, that period must be at least 21 days, as this is a single incubation
period for avian influenza. (Note that this is not an OIE requirement, but a basic disease
control measure and part of USDA's response plan.) The actual number of days will
depend upon the specific disease agent and method of disposal used. Please discuss the
exact timeline with the animal health officials responding on your farm.
Surveillance testing must also be complete in the area around the affected premises
before APHIS can release it from quarantine and restocking can occur. However, in most
cases, this surveillance will be completed before the 21-day waiting period begins
So it's technically possible to take 2 years to repopulate but only if HPAI was continually detected in your area.
Good information, thanks! I deal with the NP&K that comes out the backsides, so the production aspects are interesting. I seem to recall fryer operations usually having some empty houses most of the time, so is it possible for them to carry on if one house is shut down for BF?
Most broiler farms utilize all-in, all-out practices across the farm. So if one house sells, so do the others. This is best for biosecurity reasons so that old, exposed, carrier flocks do not infect new, naive flocks in adjacent houses. That said, most farmers raise birds under contract with a large company like Tyson or Pilgrim's. Those large companies always have some number of farms and therefore houses that are empty for 2-3 weeks to allow for cleaning, maintenance, and so on.
Now, specific to HPAI... HPAI affects broilers a lot less often than layers and turkeys. I'm not sure if anyone knows exactly why that is. But, if a farm were to be infected, it is almost a certainty that every house on that farm would be infected and so all houses would be depopulated.