Boost for agricultural shows as poultry ban to be lifted

A BAN on poultry gatherings and strict measures to reduce the risk of avian flu in England will be lifted from May 15, the Government has announced.

In a welcome move for the poultry industry, a Prevention Zone put in place by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will end on the same date.

It means, provided there are no further cases of the virus, poultry keepers will no longer be required to follow specific disease prevention measure to cut the risk of infection from wild birds.

Defra said that after May 15 keepers should still follow industry standard best practice on biosecurity, including minimising movement in and out of bird enclosures, cleaning footwear, keeping areas where birds live clean and tidy and feeding birds indoors.

Commercial and individual poultry and captive bird keepers were first ordered to keep birds inside, or to take steps to separate them from wild birds, in December due to a highly pathogenic strain of avian flu – H5N8 – circulating in Europe.

A number of outbreaks were recorded in the UK over winter, including in a backyard flock of chickens and ducks near Settle, North Yorkshire.

Mike Wilkinson, who has a flock of free-range layers at Sessay near Thirsk and is a member of the National Farmers’ Union’s regional poultry forum, said: “It’s good to know we are going to be a true free-range industry again.

“Our birds are used to being outside so it has been stressful for them and has made looking after them harder work.”

The lifting of the ban on poultry gatherings is timely for the first of the county’s 2017 agricultural shows.

Otley Show takes place on Saturday, May 20 and event secretary Janet Raw said: “It’s brilliant news for the industry and for agricultural shows alike. It would have been a great shame if the poultry section couldn’t go ahead.”

Poultry entries have remained open ahead of the show in case the restrictions changed and due to the announcement Mrs Raw said: “We have extended the entry deadline until next Thursday. There are about 300 entries at the moment, which is about twothirds of what we normally have.”

The most recent case of H5N8 in poultry in England was confirmed on February 24 and in wild birds was on March 10.

The overall risk of the disease is now “low” and should continue to fall in warmer, drier spring weather conditions, Defra said.