Wisconsin
Wisconsin hatchery owner sees seasonal avian flu as the ‘new normal’
Birds from a backyard chicken flock in Racine were recent casualties in a string of bird flu cases in Wisconsin this year. The birds were killed to prevent spreading the disease further.
Dr. Darlene Konkle, state veterinarian from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that the highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, is expected to spread more as wild birds continue migrating through the fall.
“Right now, we’re not at the peaks we were last year,” Konkle said. “We’ve seen an uptick in cases across the country, particularly in the northern tier of states, in the past few weeks. And of course, we’re going into the fall season, which is peak migration for a lot of wild waterfowl.”
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Konkle said avian influenza can be fatal to all birds and spreads rapidly. Cows are also susceptible to avian flu, although so far this year, no cows in Wisconsin have tested positive, as has happened in 18 other states.
Konkle said keeping cows and other animals safe from bird flu in Wisconsin requires strict adherence to biosecurity measures and heightened awareness of the risks of the disease.
“We’re really encouraging flock and livestock owners in general to keep good biosecurity practices in place,” Konkle said. “Steps can be really simple, like washing hands and keeping equipment clean, or more complicated, like having an employee shower in and out.”
Konkle said backyard flock owners should pay attention to bird flu symptoms in their flock like sneezing, a drop in egg production, a drop in feed and water intake, and sudden death. Other signs and precautions can be found on the DATCP website.
Nick Levendoski, owner of Sunnyside Hatchery in Beaver Dam and president of the Wisconsin Poultry and Egg Industries Association, also joined “Wisconsin Today” to explain how avian flu has affected the hatchery industry.
The following was edited for clarity and brevity.
Rob Ferrett: How does your work differ from what someone might think of as a typical chicken farm?
Nick Levendoski: Well, there’s a lot of things different at the hatchery versus a typical chicken farm. For one: We’re a very seasonal operation. We hatch chicks 52 weeks a year, but right now is certainly the lowest amount of volume that we’re hatching out. But we’ve got our sights set on the spring when we really get to start ramping up for the folks that want to get their baby chicks for Easter time, and their traditional meat birds for next spring.
RF: On a practical level, what does “biosecurity” mean? What kind of measures are you taking above and beyond what you usually do?
NL: A lot of farmers that work with us are Amish folks. It’s not advised to visit your neighbor’s chicken operation. Certainly there’s no exchanging of birds between one premise to another. And also, our (workers) are not to have backyard poultry of their own. There’s just too much vulnerability there, having backyard birds, and then doing the daily chores in the breeder flocks.
So it’s just about increasing the awareness for people. And then higher numbers of dip pans, bleach at doorways and stuff like that. All those precaution areas certainly are heightened more so than they have in the past, especially the last five or six years when avian influenza became a real issue versus a theoretical one.
But we also do all-in, all-out on these flocks. So birds stay in production for a little over a year, and then we get rid of that flock, and we start with a brand new flock every year. So we don’t have older birds communicating with younger birds or transmitting any types of diseases.
RF: We saw at least one positive bird flu case in a Racine backyard flock. There’s concerns that wild birds might spread the disease to domestic birds. What do you tell your customers who are newer to keeping poultry?
NL: The main thing is just to keep the interaction between wild birds and their domestic birds at a minimum. That’s the biggest one. And then also understand that birds seasonally have mild colds. They do have some mild respiratory issues associated with backyard flocks. But if you see your birds not eating, egg production falling off the wagon, and especially unexpected or higher than normal mortality, get on the phone with DATCP. Call your veterinarian. Let’s get the wheels in motion because it’s important to get that communicated so you’re not putting anybody else’s flocks at risk.
RF: As the president of the Wisconsin Poultry and Egg Industries Association, what are you hearing from members of that organization?
NL: We’ve grown a bit accustomed to these flare-ups. It always seems to coincide with birds migrating. So it’s becoming more of a concern. Before, it was more theoretical; “Let’s try to keep that out of our flocks.” And now, even with these increased biosecurity measures, there still are commercial flocks that are vulnerable. You still have employees that can bring in the virus on their boots, or through air ducts. There’s a lot of different vectors that you have minimal control over. I guess we’re just growing accustomed to reacting when it hits, but I think it’s becoming the new normal.
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shares his biggest spring takeaway
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shared his biggest takeaway from the spring following the Badgers’ four-set win over Northern Illinois.
MADISON – Kelly Sheffield has coached All-Americans, national players of the year, national champions and future Olympians in his 13 years as Wisconsin volleyball coach.
So Sheffield’s unique praise of Decelise Champion – a star pin-hitter from Puerto Rico who committed to the Badgers last fall – carries a lot of weight.
“Her highest-end potential is certainly as high as about anybody we’ve ever brought in,” Sheffield said. “She’s got a lot of work to get to where she’s capable of, and that’s on us as coaches and on her to help reach those dreams and goals. But when you’re watching people around her age, she’s different.”
That work is beginning earlier than initially expected after Wisconsin announced that Champion will reclassify from the 2027 recruiting class and join the Badgers as a freshman for the 2026 season.
Champion – currently 16 years old and turning 17 in September – will arrive with a resume that includes experience on Puerto Rico’s senior national team and the elite Italian club Volleyro Casal de Pazzi. That’s all while being strong enough academically to earn a GED degree and the necessary NCAA waiver for a few missing core classes.
“What made it really a lot better is that all of her grades at the different schools she’s been at have been fantastic,” Sheffield said. “She’s an excellent student. Was crushing it at a really, really good academic school in Italy in her third language.”
The timing of the June 12 announcement accounted for the second-last open roster spot for the 2026 season, but Champion and UW’s efforts to make the reclassification possible go back much earlier than that.
“We’ve known she’s wanted to do this since February,” Sheffield said. “We told our team in February that was the plan. And then we didn’t let anybody know publicly until she was done with her season. She just didn’t want to be a distraction for her team.”
Badgers have even more competition at pins
Wisconsin already had plenty of competition at the pin-hitting positions before Champion’s move to the 2026 class.
Grace Egan had a major role on the 2025 Final Four team, and Eva Travis had an impressive spring after transferring from UC-Santa Barbara. Others include Grace Lopez, Madison Quest and the highly-touted freshman duo of Halle Thompson and Audrey Flanagan.
Even with the upcoming addition of one more pin-hitter – and one with such a high potential – UW did not lose any players in the spring transfer portal cycle. Even the idea of someone leaving seemed outlandish to Sheffield.
“If they’re just going to get up and leave because somebody came, I would say that that person is probably chicken s—,” Sheffield said.
Sheffield’s praise of Champion’s proposal obviously does not come with a guarantee of playing time either at the crowded pin-hitting positions.
“I would say, yeah, she does have a chance of being out on the court for us this year,” Sheffield said. “But we’ve also got some other really talented people that play the pins.”
The outside and right-side hitters already on UW’s spring roster will have at least one key advantage over Champion in her freshman season – time.
Egan, Lopez and Quest are returning players (although Egan and Lopez spent their spring recovering from injuries). Travis, Thompson and Flanagan all enrolled in time to spend the spring with the Badgers and impressed in UW’s spring matches.
Champion’s arrival, on the other hand, will follow her participation in an Olympic-qualifying event for Puerto Rico. Sheffield expects that to be Sept. 2, which is the day before fall classes begin and already after UW’s first four matches of the season.
“She’ll be drinking out of a fire hose early on, no doubt about it,” Sheffield said. “Even though she’s been playing with her senior national team this summer, it will be a lot of things coming at her in her secondary language at 16, so there’ll need to be some patience along the way.”
His advice to Champion when she was on campus earlier in June was to “be where your feet are.”
“When she’s with her national team – even though we will have started our preseason, playing matches – don’t worry about us here,” Sheffield said. “Be where your feet are. Be the best you can be for your team there. … Then when you get here, you’re not thinking about your national team.”
Champion’s NCAA eligibility clock starts earlier
Champion’s reclassification comes with the drawback of beginning her NCAA eligibility one year earlier in her volleyball career.
Had she stayed in the 2027 recruiting class, she theoretically would have begun her college career shortly before her 18th birthday and exhausted her eligibility at age 22. Instead, she will begin her college career shortly before her 17th birthday and likely exhaust her eligibility at age 21.
Those scenarios take into account the NCAA Division I Cabinet’s unanimous approval on June 23 of a new eligibility model that will give players five seasons of eligibility in five years. (That replaces the current system with four seasons, redshirts and other waivers.) The NCAA noted that its decision is not final, however, until the meeting concludes on June 24.
“We’re certainly excited to have her this year, but if you kind of think over the course of five years, it’s probably worse for us that she comes a year early,” Sheffield said. “You expect her to be better at 20 and 21 than what she is at 16 or 17. … It really wasn’t something that we were pushing for, but she was ready.”
Of course, volleyball at age 16 or 17 looks different for someone like Champion who has been competing against much older players as a senior national team member and studying halfway across the world from her hometown of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
“When you talk to her, she doesn’t come across as somebody who’s 16,” Sheffield said. “She’s very mature, very easy to talk to, very driven. She’s independent. … She’s had a lot more life experience than most people her age, and that certainly comes across when you’re around her.”
Wisconsin
Cult-classic filmed in central Wisconsin returns to big screen, with enhancements, this weekend
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) – A giant spider isn’t actually invading central Wisconsin this weekend.
But an enhanced, big-screen version of the cult-classic 1975 film The Giant Spider Invasion is crawling back into local theaters — and it’s bringing some central Wisconsin nostalgia with it.
The movie was famously filmed in Merrill and Stevens Point, and the updated 2026 release adds enhancements designed for a modern theatrical experience.
What’s new in the 2026 enhanced version?
Executive Producer J.B. Thompson says the team took the original 1975 film and enhanced it for the big screen in 2026, giving audiences a refreshed way to experience a movie that’s long been a Wisconsin oddity — and a point of pride.
Actor and Producer Dan Davies is featured in newly filmed scenes created specifically for this updated release.
Stevens Point’s role in the original film
While much of the film is associated with Merrill, Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza says Point also played a major role in the production — another reason the film’s return matters to local history buffs and movie fans alike.
Why does this movie still capture attention 50 years later?
Whether it’s the over-the-top creature feature story, the uniquely Wisconsin filming locations, or the nostalgia of seeing familiar places on screen, the group says the film’s staying power is real — even five decades later.
Screenings this weekend
The enhanced version of The Giant Spider Invasion is set for local screenings this weekend in Central and North Central Wisconsin. To purchase tickets for showings in Stevens Point, Marshfield or Waupaca, click here.
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