MONEY

Bird flu scare hits some backyard chickens

Christopher Doering
cdoering@gannett.com
Chickens feed on a few family leftovers May 9, 2015, at Tanya Keith's home in Des Moines.

WASHINGTON – In a lot behind Tanya Keith's Des Moines home, seven hens can be seen strutting around, laying a colorful array of brown, white and green eggs that will make their way to the frying pan or become part of a baked treat.

Backyard hen operations such as Keith's have surged in Iowa and other states, as consumers demand to know where their food comes from. Bird owners insist their backyard eggs taste better and are richer in nutrients than their commercial counterparts.

But as the bird flu epidemic worsens across the Midwest, concerns are growing that more of these popular operations could be at risk of contracting the deadly virus, which can decimate a flock within 48 hours.

MORE: Full coverage of bird flu outbreak in Iowa

Keith, 43, said she's closely watching her birds — which she purchased in 2012 with her husband, Doug Jotzke — to make sure they act normally, but otherwise the bird flu outbreak has not caused her to take many precautions.

"With a new kid in the house we have bigger fish to fry than bird flu," said Keith, who has a new daughter and two older children. "If I heard that bird flu was rampant in backyard chickens I might become more cautious, but I don't feel like it's at my doorstep right this second."

However, she has delayed adding six to eight new birds this spring that would lay blue-gray, olive green and dark brown eggs.

"I don't really want to introduce a whole bunch of new birds from two places that we don't know what their biosecurity is," she said.

At least 160 cases of the virus have been found across 15 states, the Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said Thursday. The agency has estimated 16 of the cases — almost 10 percent — are backyard operations.

The avian influenza has been particularly damaging in Iowa, where 52 cases have been identified, forcing the destruction of nearly 26 million birds. Commercial flocks have accounted for all but two of those cases.

Sharing resources

Sandra Mrachina founded the Des Moines Backyard Chicken Group in September 2012 to meet and share ideas and resources with other people who have small backyard flocks of chickens or other poultry. The organization has grown to more than 120 members — with 34 joining last year.

Mrachina said most backyard poultry owners believe there is little they can do beyond making sure they're following biosecurity measures at their homes.

"No one wants to see (bird flu), but because of how it is transported through the air, for example, it's not easily avoidable," Mrachina said. "You do the best you can and take the precautions when you can, but at the same time it's six chickens or a dozen chickens. It's not a giant commercial chicken farm that's going to lose its livelihood and maybe have trouble making ends meet."

Avian influenza is believed to be spread by droppings left on farms by migratory birds such as ducks and geese. Some have speculated farmworkers are unknowingly transporting bird flu, or it is spreading on dust or bird feathers blown by the wind.

Despite the small size of their operations, backyard bird owners are not being ignored by the USDA or state officials.

Isolating the virus

When a case of the virus is found, federal and state officials visit every nearby home that could have a bird and check animals for the disease. The USDA also will send someone if an owner reports sick or dying birds. When backyard chickens test positive for the virus, owners are reimbursed by the federal government for any birds that are destroyed.

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said state officials have quarantined and tested about 400 commercial and backyard flocks within 6.2 miles of the infected flocks.

Roughly 210 of those are backyard bird operations. A pair of infected backyard flocks, one in O'Brien County and another in Osceola County, have been found as part of routine surveillance conducted following earlier outbreaks.

"We have worked closely with owners of backyard poultry since this outbreak started," Northey said. "As the disease continues to spread, unfortunately new cases, whether in commercial or backyard poultry, are not a huge surprise."

Bigger facilities, bigger risks

Agricultural officials believe commercial operations are more susceptible to avian influenza, even though the birds are commonly housed indoors, and in theory are better protected.

One reason may be their location — they are typically found in remote rural areas where wild birds are more likely to stop than a homeowner's backyard in a city.

Another possibility could be that larger operations, even though they often have stringent biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of a disease, have significantly more workers, equipment and vehicles moving around the operation, increasing the chance of an accidental spread.

Ventilation fans used to keep the birds cool also could be pulling in contaminated dirt, feathers and other things laced with the virus.

Finally, backyard bird owners typically keep their chickens outside, where warm temperatures and the sun have a greater chance of killing the virus, something that is less likely in crowded poultry houses.

Jack Shere, associate deputy administrator of veterinary services with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, likened backyard flocks to "little islands."

He said the USDA, which is studying the bird flu outbreak to understand how the virus is spreading and better control it, is looking closely at commercial and backyard operations. So far, small operations with just a few birds are not believed to be the cause.

"You don't want to look past them. You want to make sure they are tested and that they're clear," Shere said. "At this point there has been no indication that backyards are the … starting point of this disease and that it is spreading (the virus) to the commercial flock."

Limiting the risk

Agriculture officials say bird owners can minimize risk by keeping their animals away from wild birds. For example, avoid ponds where birds conjugate, and place animals in a fenced area or indoors.

Michael Greger, director of public health and animal agriculture for the Humane Society of the United States, notes that people have been raising poultry in their backyards for thousands of years. He estimated there has been "an unprecedented rise in the number of outbreaks" the past few decades, with more occurring since 2000 than in all of the previous century.

Still, he cautioned backyard bird owners from worrying too much about the virus.

"When there is an outbreak, any birds are susceptible," Greger said. "I don't want all these backyard hobbyists to all of a sudden freak out because they must realize, as we've seen in the Midwest, most of these outbreaks are happening within these networks of these large commercial entities and not so much in these backyard flocks."

By the numbers

  • 160 Number of cases of bird flu
  • 15 Number of states with confirmed bird flu cases
  • 16 Number of the cases from backyard operations — almost 10 percent.
  • 52 Cases found in Iowa
  • 2 Number of cases in Iowa found in a backyard operations
  • 26 million birds forced into destruction