New housing order comes into place on Monday 7th November. It is needed to help reduce the risk of Avian Flu spreading further.
David Brass, CEO at The Lakes Free Range Egg company said “We have very strict biosecurity measures in place at all times to reduce the risks to our flocks. It is a standard that all our producers adhere to as well. The number of cases have been escalating across parts of the UK so it is no surprise to anyone with commercial free range poultry operations that these blanket restrictions have been re-introduced. It is something that we are learning to live with and is in the best interest of our hens’ welfare.
“We agree with what the United Kingdom’s Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss has said, in that ‘scrupulous biosecurity and separating flocks in all ways, from wild birds remain the best form of defense.’ It doesn’t matter if you are a commercial operation with thousands of birds, or have just a few hens at home from Monday 7 November onwards you must keep your indoors. It is critical to the health of all UK poultry that all poultry keepers from one hen up to thousands all keep their poultry inside to control this disease”.
The new housing measures build on the strengthened biosecurity measures that were brought in as part of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) earlier this month. The AIPZ means that all bird keepers need to take extra precautions, such as restricting access for non-essential people on site, ensuring workers change clothing and footwear before entering bird enclosures and cleaning and disinfecting vehicles regularly to limit the risk of the disease spreading.