This version updates the size of the flock reported in the story.
Backyard poultry keepers have been on alert of a new wave of avian flu, and are calling on people to lock up their flocks.
Bird flu is highly contagious to poultry and also can sicken people. Wild migratory birds can infect home flocks. It’s not just from infected wild birds visiting open water sources such as duck ponds, but come from wild bird feces dropping from the sky that lands in a flock’s pen or outside yard.
Last week in Machias, a family’s entire flock was lost. The first 25 were due to suspicions of bird flu. Authorities came to their property within 24 hours and euthanized the remaining more than 140 more. The birds had names. Authorities also disposed of the eggs.
Symptomatic signs of bird flu can include lethargy and green feces.
It’s believed all of this season’s bird flu cases so far have been from wild birds, state Department of Agriculture (WSDA) spokeswoman Amber Betts said.
“Every case we’ve had was a wild waterfowl introduction,” she said.
A 10-mile radius around Machias — including Everett, Lake Stevens and most of Snohomish — is currently under a watch zone.
Flock keepers in this zone are asked to self-report to the state agriculture agency on how their flock is doing by calling 1-866-414-0552 or filling a form findable through http://agr.wa.gov/birdflu
“We would love to hear (reports), even if the flock is looking healthy,” Betts said.
The hotline can also help advise if a bird might be sick.
Authorities consider bird flu a serious infectious threat.
When bird flu is detected, the flock must be culled by euthanasia — for backyard hobbyists, it’s usually all their birds. Equipment is sanitized after.
Eggs are taken for destruction to ensure the virus is killed, Betts said.
There’s also a 120-day waiting period before a new flock can use the space. The bird flu virus sticks around for months.
The No. 1 tell of bird flu is sudden and multiple deaths in your flock, Betts said. Other signs are discolored legs as well as neurological: Imagine a duck needlessly walking in circles.
The best defenses are to not use ponds or outdoor water sources during migratory bird season, and to keep those covered. Other defenses are to cover open spaces in pens and to clean up food spills that attract wild birds. Rats can also transmit bird flu to flocks.
More precautions the WSDA suggested are to use a set of shoes and clothes for when in close contact with your poultry which you don’t use off your property.
The state bird flu incident map has spots in far-reaching places. Earlier this month, cases popped up in Okanogan and Stevens counties. In the latter half of October, bird flu was confirmed in flocks further south in Kitsap and Lewis counties, as well as in Franklin County in Eastern Washington.
This spring, a Yelm poultry keeper with a bird flu case wrote with palpable grief about how her ducks were put into bags and gassed with carbon dioxide by authorities. Some were more than eight years old.
Carbon dioxide suffocation is an official method of procedure, Betts said.
People have been much more cautious against spreading bird flu since the major 2014-2015 outbreak that went farm-to-farm, Betts said.
The state department has a Facebook group with alerts at www.facebook.com/groups/wabirdflu
