Bird flu housing order to be introduced in Northern Ireland

A mandatory poultry housing order is to come into force across Northern Ireland (NI) from midday on Monday 28 November in a bid to combat the growing threat of avian flu.

The housing order legally requires all bird keepers, including those with backyard and hobby flocks as well as commercial flocks, to keep their birds indoors or otherwise separate from wild birds using covered netting.

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So far this year, there has been just one confirmed case in a captive bird holding in NI, but since April there have been 21 confirmed wild bird cases.

But the move follows much more widespread outbreaks across Great Britain, and now in the Republic of Ireland as well, with more than 120 cases recorded in England alone since 1 October 2022.

Devastating

Chief veterinary officer Robert Huey said any case was devastating for the owner and had the potential to savage NI’s £450m poultry industry.

“In order to protect the national flock, we must try to avoid a repeat of last year, which was NI’s worst ever outbreak of avian flu and resulted in the cull of approximately 80,000 birds,” he said.

“Avian flu is a cunning and determined virus and will exploit any and all gaps in your biosecurity, which is the best defence you have against an outbreak.

“No one is safe from an incursion and cases in NI will increase significantly over the coming months unless we all take immediate action now.”

Free-range birds are able to keep their status for up to 16 weeks under a housing order, after which their eggs will be classified as barn eggs.

Biosecurity

Dr Huey was keen to point out that housing was an additional measure to tight biosecurity and pointed to the following crucial measures all poultry keepers should implement:

• Ensure feed and bedding is protected from rodents and wild birds
• Make sure there are no gaps in your housing
• Clean your footwear every time you visit your birds
• Humanely control rodents
• Regularly clean and disinfect hard surfaces

“These actions should become a regular, repetitive and instinctive part of your bird-owning routines,” he said.

“These are not one-off events, but something you should do every single day, and come as naturally as providing food and water for your birds.”

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has also developed a biosecurity self-assessment tool to help bird keepers in the review of their biosecurity arrangements, which can be completed online and saved to your device.

A housing order came into effect for the whole of England on 7 November, but Wales and Scotland have not yet taken similar action, despite calls from farming organisations in both countries to do so.

Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands also have housing orders in place.