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.” 

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.