Poultry News August/September 2024
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When Chickens Blush, We Should Pay Attention
According to a paper published in May 2024 in the journal of Applied Animal Behaviour Science, chickens can blush when they are emotional and we should be paying attention. The paper titled, Exploration of skin redness and immunoglobulin A as markers of the affective states of hens, states that facial skin redness is an indication of an aroused emotional response which can help poultry owners identify their bird’s welfare. The researcher’s observations revealed that hens exhibited the highest degree of facial skin redness in negative situations of high arousal, a high redness in positive situations of high arousal, and the lowest in positive situations of low arousal. By comparing chickens that were familiar to humans and those that were not, “habituated hens exhibited significantly lower fearfulness and facial skin redness in the presence of humans compared to non-habituated hens in the reactivity to human test.”
For all regions observed (cheek, ear lobe, wattle, and comb) except the comb, hens exhibited the highest skin redness in negative situations of high arousal associated with fear. The study suggests that a hen’s facial redness changes based on its affective state, and hints that less redness in the cheek and ear lobes may indicate calm and contentment states.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159124001163?via%3Dihub
Bird Flu in Dairy Cows
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention a multi-state outbreak of HPAI A(H5N1) bird flu in dairy cows was first reported on March 25, 2024. In the U.S. since 2022, more than 200 mammals have been reported to have the virus. Globally, sea lions in Peru and Chile, sea elephants in Argentina, and foxes in Canada and France have been infected.
According to the CDC Mammals can be infected with H5N1 bird flu viruses when they eat infected birds, poultry, or other animals and/or if they are exposed to environments contaminated with virus.
The agency believes the current risk to the general public from bird flu viruses is low. Heating milk to pasteurized levels kills bacteria and viruses. People who work directly with infected bids and mammals have a greater risk.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/mammals.htm
How Poultry Owners Can Protect Their Flock from Avian Flu
As we repeat ourselves in this Poultry News column, prevention is the best medicine. The CDC urges bird owners to have proper biosecurity in place as well as ways to prevent contact between backyard birds and wild birds. If you must handle sick birds, take the following precautions:
- Use protective equipment like gloves, an N95 respirator if available or, if not available, a well-fitting facemask (e.g., a surgical mask), and eye protection (e.g., goggles)
- Wash your hands with soap and water after touching birds
- Avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes after contact with birds or surfaces and materials that may be contaminated with saliva, mucous, or feces from wild or domestic birds
- Change your clothes before contact with healthy domestic poultry and handling wild birds, captive wild birds, farmed birds, and other pet birds. Then, throw away the gloves and facemask, and wash your hands with soap and water
To learn more specific recommendations regarding the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to wear and how to safely put it on and take it off are available at Backyard Flock Owners: Take Steps to Protect Yourself from Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5/backyardflockowners.htm
The Department of Labor finds Children Employed Illegally in Dangerous Jobs in the Poultry Industry
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, a California poultry processor and distributor must pay $4.8 million in back wages and damages to 476 workers and $221,919 in penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation finds that children as young as 14 years old were using razor-sharp deboning knives, which is a violation of federal child labor regulations.
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20240502
Robert Irwin Announces Death of Pet Chicken
In important internet news Robert Irwin, son of Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter, has announced on his Instagram page in a video message that Nacho, the family’s pet buff Orpington chicken has passed away.
He says, “She was a beautiful old chook who lived a lot of great years and we’re really really really really sad to lose her.”
Nearly 100,000 heart likes and 700 comments of condolences have been submitted. It appears that the new family members, Waffles and Mochi, are Mille Fleur d’Uccle bantams.
