It’s been too long since I’ve made a post for Feathered Friday.
For the former, I’m excited to move forward! And for the latter, if you’re missing the bird content, I’ve been doing an ALL CHICKEN INKTOBER over on Twitter. Some of my favorites are above; see more below!
Since I started my job in May, I’ve made my wife a cup of coffee every weekday morning. I also leave her little sticky notes with her morning coffee to brighten up her day! Birdblr, let me present to you:
@kf-tea made this rad dragon chicken and I wanted to use it in a game. There’s already a few changes I want to make, but I love this savage little thing. Thinking about making an ‘adult’ version of it. A pack of 8 foot tall dragon chickens running around sounds terrifying.
Ughhhh. HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) has made it to Michigan backyard flocks. It’s still across the state from me but that won’t last, and it’s been found in backyard flocks in several other states now as well. AI is a flock eradicator; if any of your birds get it, the whole flock must be culled and there’s a wait period before you can start over.
PLEASE bring in your bird feeders for the next few months to discourage birds from gathering together.
Even if you don’t have outdoor birds like me, you can help protect flock birds in your area by removing feeders and bird baths etc from your yard. This will help to slow the spread to flocks like mine.
If you are in the USA and have flock birds
Bring them in if you can. If you only have a couple, set them up indoors if you can. If you’re like me and you can’t, do your best to move food and water sources into the coops where wild birds won’t see them. You can buy bird prevention netting to wrap your run in, and tarp the top of it to prevent falling excrement from reaching your birds as wild birds pass overhead.
It should go without saying, but I’m gonna say it. You should also avoid going to places where others have birds (like auctions, swap meets, visiting farms or friends that have them), or allowing anyone that’s been where there are birds to visit your property. If you must have visitors, a 10% bleach solution in a tub for them to step in is the bare minimum of biosecurity so they don’t track it in on their shoes.
There are tests for Avian Influenza, which can be done without killing the birds. If you are concerned your birds may be showing symptoms of AI (sudden deaths, decrease in egg production, decrease in water intake, or other illness symptoms), you should contact your state agricultural department (in Michigan, MSU ag department and MDARD handles this kind of stuff, not sure for other states) and inquire about what steps to take to have testing done. They will be able to advise you on what to do.
Good luck to those in states where this is moving around widely now. I hope everyone’s flocks stay safe. Please feel free to add resources for your state if you know them. Many states offer free AI testing!
For people wondering YES if you have exotic birds like parrots this is still something to be worried about. And i would follow Kedreeva’s advice
Oh yes, waterfowl and poultry are the most sensitive to this, but it’s avianinfluenza. It’s been found in plenty of songbirds/passerines, as well as the birds of prey that eat them, and there’s zero reason why psittacines are excluded except that most of them live inside houses.
If you do have completely indoor birds already (like parrots or pigeons or finches) then you need to be leaving your shoes at the door (preferably stepping into a bleach footbath with those shoes before removing them), not allowing your birds down onto the floor (and cleaning floors regularly with something to disinfect), and not allowing your birds outside until this passes, which could be months. You also should not be mixing equipment between enclosures, and doing your best to keep equipment clean and sanitized.
This has been steadily progressing across the US as birds migrate. A small farm in upstate NY just had to cull their entire flock of 400. Hundreds of thousands of meat birds at facilities around the US have had to be culled. Turkey farms have had to cull tens of thousands. McMurray Hatchery just lost half their heritage breed flocks to a positive test at one of their larger breeding facilities. There are a half dozen cases in Michigan, getting closer to me. Iowa has begun a blanket cull radius where any flock within 2 miles of an infected flock must be culled, positive or not, to prevent it jumping.
New cases and the major culls that follow in their wake, are being reported daily, and this is still just starting. Migratory season doesn’t end until the middle-end of May. April has barely started. The total death toll so far is upwards of 15 million birds, and that’s going to continue to go up.
Please, please, please. Protect your birds, protect the birds around you. I am begging you to bring your birds in if you can; they will not like it but at least they will be alive to not like it. I posted this originally when I thought we wouldn’t be able to coop everyone, but I have made sacrifices in order to do so since, because this is getting very bad.
Stay safe. My thoughts are with everyone’s feathered kids.
(Current as of April 6th, 2022)
Reblogging to add that there is a current and often-updated map of HPAI case locations in the USA on the USGS site. States that do not currently have cases still need to be wary, particularly the closer you are to states that HAVE had cases.
This is the map as of today, 6 April 2022:
I also want to tack this information on to this main post:
HPAI is transmissible to cats and dogs!
Studies done in 2015/16 and since have found that cats and dogs can pick up this virus from infected meat (as in when they eat wild birds they have caught) as well as through respiratory transmission. Cats and dogs are not generally susceptible to LPAI, the normal strain in north america, but both were found to be susceptible to HPAI.
So, in addition to removing bird feeders and keeping any pet birds on lockdown as much as possible, folks with cats and dogs need to be aware of the dangers to their animals as well. Cat owners should keep their cats indoors or allow them out in covered catios only (you’ll have to read up and decide if leash time is safe, I haven’t looked into it) until migratory season ends. Folks with dogs should not allow dogs off-leash outdoors where they might be able to catch birds or touch bird carcasses. While HPAI mainly causes death in waterfowl and land fowl, songbirds are a reservoir species and can transmit it to mammals interacting with them or their carcasses or feces.
Please be careful out there. This is going to get worse before it gets better.
I know this is already long, but I’m adding on a list of resources and prevention methods for if you own flock birds (poultry, waterfowl, game fowl etc)
Searching the web for “HPAI guidelines 2022” brings up a bunch of links to state agricultural departments pages regarding HPAI in individual states, which should have info about who to contact and what to do if you think you have a positive case. You can find a lot of official scientific info with quick searches, because this is very serious.
Prevention Info for Backyard Flocks
Coop your birds if possible, inside of the entirely enclosed wooden part
If your coop is too small, cover the top of your run completely with waterproof tarp to prevent fecal matter from entering the run. Ensure it is able to drain 2+ feet away from the wall of your run, so that it doesn’t just infect your soil anyway
Do not allow free ranging. They’re gonna be mad, but they’ll be alive to be mad.
If your run has anything other than ½" hardware cloth for wire, wrap it in ½ mesh bird netting to exclude wild birds from getting in.
Sanitize footwear in 10% bleach before entering any enclosure. Bleach solution must be made daily as it degrades fast, contact kill time is usually anywhere from 3-10 minutes. Alternately, keep footwear exclusive to the run in a bin just outside the run, and use those only inside the run. Do not share footwear between enclosures.
Sanitize equipment with 10% bleach
Do not share equipment between coops if you have more than one
Do not allow visitors on your property; if you must, have them park as far from your birds as they can, and sanitize their footwear in 10% solution before allowing them to travel your property.
Do not visit properties or events which will have birds
Do not bring in new birds. If new birds must be brought in, follow quarantine procedures; 30 days isolation away from your flock, perform their chores last, followed by introducing 1 of your current flock to the quarantine area for 2 weeks. (though if new arrivals are not dead in the first week, they likely don’t have HPAI, as it kills within the first 3 days of infection… but quarantine is always a good thing because birds can have lots of nasty diseases).
Keep an eye out for signs of disease, and contact your designated state department to have testing done on any sudden deaths in your flock. Signs of HPAI in poultry can include sudden death; lack of energy, appetite, and coordination; purple discoloration or swelling of various body parts; diarrhea; nasal discharge; coughing; sneezing; and reduced egg production, or soft-shelled or misshapen eggs.
Even if you don’t have any confirmed cases in your state, consider at least making a plan for what you’re going to do if it heads your way or pops up nearby. Being prepared makes this a LOT easier to deal with.
I’m going to bed. If you have questions, try a search engine first. Right now this post contains basically everything, and links to find out anything the post is missing.
More chickens! This one’s a housewarming gift for a friend. No nesting chickens this time, just walking chickens. Which is your favorite? I like the upper right “red”, but they all look good. :)
Upgraded to level 26 adult these stats are whack hELp
Babe you don’t wanna hit level 38, that’s all I’m saying
Asfshjkl pLs my joints are already doomed fam we need cheat codes STAT
Pffffftasgsjskkl it’s a sidequest in the new DLC. if you have enough heart points while talking to one of the npcs in the forest region they will tell you about a weird bird they saw. walk your character around in circles in that area of the map and a chicken will eventually spawn out of a bush. Just make sure you have enough of your stamina bar left to catch it
Reblogging this again because every single comment and tag on this post is absolute gold
Heyo! I finally set up a ko-fi! If you’d like to buy me a coffee (or a treat for my spoiled, spoiled chickens) to help support what I do, you can find me at ko-fi.com/makennamadethis (or follow my tip jar button on my home page)
You’ll also find all my commission info over there :D
