Bird Flu

Bird flu is back again.

Well, this is the Farmyard Tales blog written by Chickenlady…so I suppose I ought to look out….

When the whole bird flu thing blew up last time a guy I know who has a few birds got rid of them instantly. He didn’t wait to see what was happening, just disposed of them…and I say disposed, guardedly – they went from his small holding, but I have no idea if they were killed or just sent to new homes. Someone else I know who lives in the same village as me left his birds just where they were, we had taken ours inside – put in a barn, not our house…although at times I do wonder if our house would be cleaner and tidier if the animals lived there and we lived outside….The chap who left his outside said, quite rightly, that these birds had always lived outside (with a hen house obviously for nighttime) to take them inside would be cruel to them and if bird flu was found in the vicinity they’d all be put down anyway, so why not just let them enjoy their lives as nature intended….He had a point.

This time we haven’t taken the birds in….if bird flu does spread we’ll lose them regardless of them having it or not….We all learnt that lesson from the Foot and Mouth outbreak. And I guess we can rely on our government and the wonderful DEFRA to cock things up again (and yes, pun entirely intended).

Am I worried about catching bird flu?

No, I’m probably more at risk from a car accident in the countryside.