It takes planning, work and commitment to ensure the feathers don’t hit the fan
- May 4
- 4 min read
By Luke Edwards
On tires or phones. In the dust or the feed. Carried by wild birds or well meaning humans.
When it comes to many farm operations, the threat of disease can take many forms. At an event held last month by the Haldimand Federation of Agriculture with the help of Haldimand County, HFA members got a refresher course on how to minimize the risk of a pathogen like avian influenza wreaking havoc on their operation.
Al Dam, a provincial poultry specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, shared some of the things he prioritizes for flock health when talking to farmers in the province. And for Dam, it starts by looking in the mirror.
“We are very good at spreading disease and pests ourselves,” he said.
Human movement and activity allows for pathogens to spread from barn to barn. Sometimes it’s obvious, for instance going from barn to barn in the same clothes or with the same boots on or without proper disinfecting. And sometimes it’s less obvious, like storing the very equipment used to clean the barns in an inappropriate location.
Dam promoted the Danish entry system as an effective and relatively simple way to reduce risk. It uses a physical barrier to delineate the dirty outside area from the clean inside area of a barn. His example had a bench, where farmers would enter the barn, removing their outdoor clothes and sitting on the bench to remove their boots. Then they’d swing their legs over to the other side of the bench, essentially entering the clean area.
“Proper barricades and changing of boots is always better than trying to disinfect,” he said.
That doesn’t mean disinfectants and sanitizers can be ignored. They should just be used properly.
Dam cautioned against disinfectant baths for a couple reasons. First, it takes time for the baths to do their work, something people rarely take into account. Second, it only takes a few uses before the bath becomes just as dirty as the outside world.
Other human activity can also cause risks. Dam said he’s always careful driving onto a farm, avoiding taking his vehicle anywhere that could kick up dust that could get into the barn. Similarly, his barn visits are planned out in advance. If he’s on a farm with an outbreak of some kind, the infected barn will always be the last place he visits.
Common things he checks for on farms include whether the farmer keeps the area around the barn clear of vegetation.
“Rodents love weeds,” he said. Discouraging rats and rodents from coming close to the barn helps keep the flock healthy.
Farm layout is also important.
“One of the first things I look at is if the barn is below grade,” he said.
A below grade barn can cause problems during storms and spring melting, as infiltration can bring with it nasty outside pathogens.
While few people enjoy doing paperwork and developing protocols, Dam said it’s an important aspect of bio security. Access management plans that describe the various areas of a farm - including control access zones, restricted access zones and control access points - should be well thought out. Log books are important, in case an outbreak does occur.
One of the biggest challenges is when disease gets into the wildlife populations. With avian influenza, for instance, waterfowl and other birds can continually pose risk to farms. And it’s not just birds. The United States has been dealing with AI in dairy cattle, and Dam said it’s been found in a wide range of wild mammals as well.
“If disease gets into the wildlife, it gets a lot more complicated,” he said.
That’s why he encouraged farmers to contact officials if they find dead birds on their property. If it’s livestock, they can contact their local Canadian Food Inspection Agency office or their vet. And for wild birds, he encouraged people to call the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative at 866-673-4781.
Unfortunately, nothing’s perfect and even with the best protocols in place infections can still happen. Since December 2021 more than 17 million domestic birds in Canada have been affected by the avian influenza outbreak. That includes more than 1.3 million in Ontario, which Dam said is a low number compared to the total number of birds in the province.
A mixture of good geography, good luck and good practice has likely led to those relatively low numbers, Dam said. B.C. has struggled with AI outbreaks, in part due to the Fraser Valley acting like a huge bowl that keeps the disease in.
The general approach falls into three steps: Keep out, keep in, shut it down. Ideally farmers will keep disease out of the herd or flock, but should there be an outbreak, the next step is to keep it in and confined to just that barn or herd/flock. Testing, confirmation and quarantine becomes the priority.
Dam described the the process of culling flocks, and the steps that are taken to kill the pathogen and properly dispose of the carcasses to keep the disease from spreading.
Disinfecting the premises can then be a challenging and time consuming endeavour.
“This can take months, from when the feathers hit the fan to when you can restock again,” he said.
While vaccination is an option, Dam said it’s not currently the route being taken in Canada. Testing in other countries can’t differentiate between antibodies created from infection and antibodies created from vaccination, which causes problems for operations such as genetics companies looking to export.
While his presentation focused on avian influenza - given his job, it’s essentially been his life the past few years - Dam said it’s not just AI, and it’s not just poultry farmers who should be careful. Other diseases like foot and mouth and African swine fever pose risks to other operations like cows and pigs.
Following Dam’s presentation, attendees participated in smaller roundtable discussions. They shared some of the issues and challenges they face such as with record keeping and controlled access issues, getting newer types of livestock operations into the fold, and a lack of awareness from consumers and the general public.
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