Millions of free-range hens and other birds will have to be kept indoors from 14 December, in a national government crackdown to try to limit the spread of a virulent strain of avian flu across Great Britain.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a statement that the chief vets of England, Scotland and Wales had agreed the new legal requirement for all birdkeepers to bring their flocks indoors, to keep them separate from potentially infectious wild birds.
The restriction, which has already been introduced in the Netherlands, applies not only to large commercial poultry farms but also smaller keepers with hens in garden pens. Birdkeepers are being urged to use the next 11 days to prepare for the new measures, including taking steps to safeguard animal welfare, consult their vet and where necessary erect additional housing or netting.
Eggs can continue to be marketed and labelled as “free-range” for 16 weeks after the birds have been brought indoors, but if the restrictions last beyond that they must instead be labelled “barn eggs”. Similarly, poultry meat can be labelled free-range for 12 weeks.
On Sunday all 10,500 turkeys at a North Yorkshire farm in Northallerton were culled after an outbreak was spotted on Saturday, while a 3km (2-mile) and 10km temporary control zone was put in place to stop the disease spreading. About 13,500 birds were culled earlier this month following confirmation of an avian flu outbreak at a commercial farm in Helsby, near Frodsham in Cheshire.
Defra reiterated that the risk to human health and food safety from the virus was “very low”.
UK and European farmers have been on alert after outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza among wild and domestic birds in western Russia and Kazakhstan. Wild birds migrating from mainland Europe during the winter period can spread the disease to poultry and other captive birds.
In a joint statement, Great Britain’s three chief vets said: “We have taken swift action to limit the spread of the disease and are now planning to introduce a legal requirement for bird keepers to keep their birds housed or otherwise separate from wild birds. We have not taken this decision lightly, but it is the best way to protect your birds from this highly infectious disease.”
