Bird Flu restrictions

Jessey

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
It's all we need on top of everything else! but hey ho.

I need to come up with a plan for keeping the guineas in, they are going to be less than impressed to say the least! Their coop was only designed for injury type isolation and is only 6x4ft foot print, 6ft tall, which I think is far too small for 3 birds (who are used to 24/7 free ranging) to live in for the foreseeable future, so I'm trying to come up with a very cheap, simple way to extend some kind of run off of it. Do you think the green scaffold mesh stretched over a few 2ft high posts would be sufficient? I could make it 7ft wide and 20ft long so they could at least forage in the day, and I could shut them in the coop at night so they are safe from Mr. Fox.
 
I heard mention of the bird flu, didn't know people were having to keep their birds in again. Boo hiss. Sorry no help at all!
 
I hadnt heard that you had to keep them in either but there are various cases around the country now.
Including a big turkey farm. Cant remember the figure but i think it was about 40,000 turkeys that were having to be slaughtered because of it.
 
I just read that the enclosure must be of solid material. So that wild birds cant fly over and poo the birds inside.
 
I just read that the enclosure must be of solid material. So that wild birds cant fly over and poo the birds inside.
Yes, but in the linked bio security document it said a fully netted pen was acceptable for game birds not normally contained/difficult to house, as long as efforts are made to keep wild birds off the to of it. The mesh I’m going to use is more of a loosely weaved fabric so poo wouldn’t go through it and I’ll add spikes on top of the posts. It’s all a bit of a headache.
 
having just restocked with five hens to add to the ones i had i am not impressed.....we are miles from any other hen keepers and there are no major hen facilities that i know of locally. Mine have a wired in big stable but i can't easily enclose the outdoors and small birds like sparrow can squeeze through the mesh.
 
It’s the wild birds they believe are spreading it with the migration ? I got the guinea house extension mostly done yesterday, I’ve just got to add some stock fence on 2 sides, now to catch them!
5590E909-1724-4621-9EF5-ED949F48D75F.jpeg
it will keep them in and other birds (and their droppings) out but it’s not fox proof, I’ve made a little door into it with a string to open/close it from the outside so at least they’ll be inside the solid house at night.
 
It’s the wild birds they believe are spreading it with the migration ? I got the guinea house extension mostly done yesterday, I’ve just got to add some stock fence on 2 sides, now to catch them!
View attachment 104789
it will keep them in and other birds (and their droppings) out but it’s not fox proof, I’ve made a little door into it with a string to open/close it from the outside so at least they’ll be inside the solid house at night.
what fabric did you use and where did you get it as we could put it over the heras panels we have and create a roof.
 
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what fabric did you use and where did you get it as we could put it over the heras panels we have and create a roof.
This is scaffold mesh, it’s like a loose weave fabric. I got 3x20 meters delivered next day from Amazon for £28. It’s light enough to do that with, my ridge line is just a bit of baler twine from a tree to the coop.
 
My chickens are completely free range. They have a shed with a chicken door where they roost at night, but it is never shut up. The shed is far too small for 14 chickens to use other than for roosting. We do have a small netted area for feeding, but it is not wild bird proof, and again too small to accommodate them all. So we have taken the decision to oust the ponies from the small barn which they use as a shelter. This will give the chickens enough space, and they can continue to use it with full free range access when the restrictions are over. Long term we will provide the ponies with a field shelter of some sort, but in the meantime they have plenty of windbreaks and will survive!
So, think of me please, over the next few days, consoling cross hens who cannot get out of the barn, and cosseted ponies who cannot get in.
The equidentist is coming this week too, so we have made space in the feed room section of the barn for him to work in.
 
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I feel your pain @Sparky Lily my guineas are never inside, they even roost out in the trees so I’m going to be dealing with some very unhappy birds when I finally catch them ?
 
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