Field & Stream

Field & Stream Further restrictions imposed to try and curb bird flu as outbreak spreads

ALL birds must be kept indoors from Monday (November 7) until further notice, as efforts to curb the spread of bird flu continue.

The UK’s chief veterinary officer, Christine Middlemiss, ordered mandatory housing measures for the whole of England, legally requiring all bird keepers to keep their animals indoors and to follow stringent biosecurity measures, regardless of type or size.

The order extended mandatory housing measures already in force in the hot spot areas of Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of Essex following an increase in the national risk of bird flu in wild birds to ‘very high’.

“We are now facing this year, the largest ever outbreak of bird flu and are seeing rapid escalation in the number of cases on commercial farms and in backyard birds across England,” the chief vet said.

“The risk of kept birds being exposed to disease has reached a point where it is now necessary for all birds to be housed until further notice.”

Over the last year, the UK has faced its largest ever outbreak of avian influenza, with more than 200 cases confirmed since late October 2021.

The introduction of the housing measures comes after the disease was detected at more than 70 premises since the

Inset: UK’s chief veterinary officer, Christine Middlemiss has ordered mandatory housing measures for bird keepers. The measures cover the whole of England

Main photo credit: Hana Oliver/Unsplash, below: Brett Jordan/Unsplash

beginning of October, as well as multiple reports in wild birds.

“Scrupulous biosecurity and separating flocks in all ways, from wild birds remain the best form of defence,” Ms Middlemiss said.

“Whether you keep just a few birds or thousands, you must keep your indoors. This decision has not been taken lightly, but is the best way to protect your birds from this highly infectious disease.

“Evidence shows that housing birds reduces the risk of kept birds being infected with bird flu.

“However, housing alone will not protect birds and all keepers must still follow the other enhanced biosecurity measures mandated by the AIPZ at all times to protect their flocks and prevent the risk of future outbreaks which is circulating in wild birds.

“Housing combined with stringent biosecurity measures can provide even greater reduction in risk.”

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) continues to advise that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency advice remains unchanged, that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers.

Properly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

NFU Poultry Board chair, James Mottershead, said: “As poultry producers, the health and welfare of our birds is our number one priority, and these housing measures alongside the existing additional biosecurity requirements will help minimise the impact of avian influenza on the poultry sector.

“These measures apply to all poultry keepers, whether you have one hen in the garden or a large poultry business, and I urge everyone to remain vigilant.

“This is a really challenging time for the British poultry sector but producers are doing all they can to protect their birds and to maintain production of poultry meat and eggs, especially as we approach Christmas.

“The NFU will continue to work with the government and the wider supply chain to minimise the impacts of avian influenza, both now and in the future.”

Field & Stream

Step into the last days of autumn – there’s still nature to see...

By A J Selby

The summer sun is fading as the year grows old, and darker days are drawing near

Justin Hayward Forever Autumn

NOVEMBER is a great walking month. The countryside is putting itself to bed and we can watch the decline and decay from day to day as we head towards the dead of mid-winter.

Fresh air is, of course, very therapeutic and so, to me, is a warming drink at the fireside at the end of a leisurely ramble. As the leaves fall so the trees take on a starkness that gives them a sense of individuality that is absent in summer when the green canopy merges into one. Learn the different trunk characteristics from the smooth beech to the patterned oak and gaze up high into the tree tops and marvel at these ‘lungs of the planet’ that sustain life from the largest mammals – including us – to hundreds of invertebrates and trillions of micro-organisms in the soil below.

A recent walk took me into the New Forest to enjoy the magnificent stands of woodland ablaze with autumn colour that takes one’s breath away. This time of year the commoners – local smallholders in the main – are allowed to let their pigs out into the forest – although much of the ‘forest’ is open heath – to forage for beech mast and acorns. This is called pannage and is a centuries old tradition, with the pigs eating acorns that can be poisonous to horses. They also dig up a few juicy roots and stems which helps to fatten them for the end of the year.

The clocks have changed and we are all too aware of the limited daylight hours as we drift towards the winter solstice. Don’t let this put you off enjoying nature – there is plenty to see at dawn and dusk as well

The countryside is busy putting itself to bed in November PHOTO: Peter Mayer/ Pixabay

as listening to what the darkness offers. Owls, of course, are night birds and the ghostly sight of a barn owl drifting across farmland, caught in the glow of the moon still excites me. The tawny owl will hoot across a stand of trees and the screech when close up will make you jump. Listen for the rustle of the undergrowth as you stand still and try to work out what creature it might be.

And, of course, look at the sky on a clear night. Away from light pollution the Milky Way is a stunning band of trillions of stars and is best observed prostrate on a blanket with a decent pair of binoculars. I can recall camping in the 1980s in New Zealand in wild countryside and on a crisp, clear night I was blown away by the intense beauty of the night sky. A quick check on the internet can tell you what planets will be in view at any given time – see the brightness of Venus low down near the horizon at dawn or in the early evening sky, or the faint red of Mars. Good binoculars or a telescope will show Jupiter’s rings and red spot and there are plenty of star clusters and nebula to view in the constellations, such as in Taurus and Orion. The Orion nebula, known as M42, sits just below his ‘belt’ and can be seen with the naked eye in unpolluted skies in winter, and even better with an aid.

Taurus has one of the earliest objects identified in the night sky – in the 1700s – known as M1 the crab nebula, located near the horns and the famous Seven Sisters, the Pleiades cluster with seven stars visible to the naked eye. Back on terra firma and walking into the old wood on one of those still, dull afternoons, the silence is almost deafening. Not a sound comes from the trees so the other senses are enhanced – the smell of the decaying leaf mould and the sight of small details that are missed at other times of year. The wren busying herself in the undergrowth, the contrasting greens of moss and lichens on tree bark, the bracket fungi jutting out of tall trunks, and the activity of small insects in rotten branches, scattered about like so much driftwood. This month also brings its share of dreary days, when the sun fails to smile at us and the sky is as grey and still as the heron on the lake.

The poet Thomas Hood captured these melancholy days in verse, which I make no apologies for repeating from time to time: No sun – no moon! No morn – no noon –No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day. No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No comfortable feel in any member –No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds November!