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New necessities which is able to assist with illness management within the face of the continuing Avian Influenza risk are to be brouht into drive.
Following a long-running marketing campaign effort, pushed by the continued risk of Avian Influenza to Scottish poultry, NFU Scotland has welcomed the announcement that there’s to be a new mandatory requirement on all hen keepers, giant or small, to register their flocks.
NFUS has lengthy been calling for the UK and Scottish Governments to evaluation the present poultry register and make it match for goal.
Currently solely flocks of greater than 50 birds are required to be registered, while many a lot smaller yard flocks exist and have potential impacts on illness management.
From September 1 anybody, even when they solely have one hen outdoor, will need to register.
NFU Scotland’s Poultry Working Group chair, Robert Thompson, stated: “The unprecedented Avian Influenza outbreak in October 2021, and year-on-year cases since then highlighted the importance of a proper poultry register.
“We are delighted that Scottish and UK Governments have committed to implementing a register that all bird keepers must keep updated.
“The new register will be online and will be simple for all keepers, including those with commercial poultry flocks, to keep records up to date. By registering, owners will receive crucial updates and guidance for bird care, including any disease alerts and depending on the threat from Avian Influenza, potentially housing orders.
“During previous avian influenza outbreaks, it has been very difficult for official vets to communicate directly with small backyard keepers to make them aware of temporary heightened disease control measures designed to protect public and animal health and the wider economy.
“Having accurate records of where all poultry are kept will simplify surveillance in disease control zones, helping eradication, reducing the labour needed to demonstrate disease freedom and allow affected areas to be lifted more quickly out of any restrictions.
“That will allow us to help keep all flocks, big and small, as healthy as possible.” Ends
By registering, house owners will obtain essential updates and steerage for hen care.
The requirement to register doesn’t apply to keepers of birds the place the one birds stored at any premises belong to the order Psittaciformes (parrots, budgies and many others) or Passeriformes (canaries, finches and many others) and are housed totally inside a dwelling or inside a construction on the premises with no access to the open air.
