Keeping strangers out of the barnyard, showering several times a day, and a constant fear: when will it be my turn? Farmers’ association LTO sees poultry farmers struggling with bird flu.
We are dealing with the largest and longest outbreak of bird flu ever. For the first time, poultry became infected for an entire year, even outside the bird migration season. And the end does not seem in sight: with a possible new virus variant, there is a chance that it will only get worse.
‘Very sad feeling’
Poultry farmer Sijds Dijkstra from Zeewolde already had to deal with it a year ago. Bird flu broke out on his farm in October 2021, making him the first of the new wave. “We received a call on Monday morning from our employee who said that there was an abnormal amount of loss among the chickens. It won’t be? I thought then.”
But it was true, his 36,000 organic laying hens were gassed and that hit hard. It was already his second culling, also in 2013 bird flu broke out in his stable. “You see a shovel with containers and the animals are just thrown into those containers. I still have that image in my head. It’s a very sad feeling.”
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‘It can’t go on like this forever’
Since October last year, there have been about 90 outbreaks in the Netherlands. About 5 million infected chickens were culled. Of these, 1 million birds have been culled to prevent further spread of the bird flu virus, for example at locations within 1 kilometer of an infected company.
For example, the chickens from a second barn of poultry farmer Dijkstra were culled as a preventive measure, even though the animals were not sick. “Then something is not right and it cannot go on forever. We are stuck.”
Invisible Enemy
Poultry farmers in the Netherlands have been living under high voltage for a year, according to Kees de Jong, chairman of the poultry department of the Agricultural and Horticultural Organization of the Netherlands (LTO). He talks about it with many poultry farmers.
“It is a continuous fight against an invisible enemy. We do not yet know exactly how it enters the barn. Is it due to dust or a poo on the roof that splashes in with rain? It is a kind of Russian roulette for Dutch poultry farmers : When is it my turn?”
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‘They isolate themselves’
According to De Jong, the severe bird flu outbreak is causing poultry farmers to isolate themselves and do everything they can to prevent the virus from entering them.
“Poultry farmers always met in study clubs, but you don’t see that anymore, they don’t dare to come anymore. They all have the fear: just imagine that I get something from a colleague and that my company is cleared?”
‘Like an intensive care unit’
Dutch poultry has been caged for a large part of the year and is therefore not allowed to go outside. Farmers are taking far-reaching measures to keep the virus out of the barn. Farm gates are locked, shoes are disinfected every time they enter and exit, and staff also have to shower every time they take care of the animals to minimize the risk of contamination.
“We are like an intensive care unit. And between barn and barn you ensure that there is no contact at all. As a farmer you check your animals a number of times every day and each time you have to take all those measures,” says De Jong. .
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New chickens
Poultry farmer Sijds Dijkstra got new chickens on his farm in the summer. They have been kept ‘safe’ ever since. But because he is an organic poultry farmer, he prefers to see his chickens outside all year round.
Unfortunately, with the winter flu wave just around the corner, these chickens will probably never see the light of day. “The standard is 25 chickens per hectare. It concerns 4.5 hectares of land and I am not doing anything with it now.”
Vaccine
Dijkstra and De Jong of LTO agree: there is only a future for the poultry sector with a vaccine against bird flu. However, some steps still need to be taken: “The countries to which we supply a lot, Germany and England, are critical of a vaccine.”
“That was the case in the Netherlands, but we all now realize that we have to take steps, because it can no longer be done like this,” says De Jong. Dijkstra also thinks it is time for action: “We have seen with corona how quickly they can make a vaccine. So if people really want to, you can get something like this within a few years.”
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What is bird flu?
Bird flu is a contagious disease that affects poultry, such as chickens and turkeys. But also with other wild bird species, such as ducks, pigeons and swans. The virus is a zoonosis, just like Q fever and corona. This type of virus can pass from animals to humans. According to Wageningen University, this type of virus only occurs in direct and intensive contact between infected birds and humans.
Viruses are spread by migratory birds that migrate from Asia, through Arctic breeding grounds, to North America and Europe. It’s in their poo, among other things. Poultry or birds quickly become ill after infection. Often within a few hours to 3 days. The first complaints are:
- overall marked lethargy;
- the animals don’t make a sound anymore.
Then the animals get complaints such as:
- breathing problems;
- diarrhea;
- eye infections;
- sudden death.
View here part 1 of the triptych about bird flu in the Netherlands: the poultry farmers. Part 2 will follow on Monday.