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Bird Flue, what you need to do


Krill

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My friend who keeps several free range chicken visited the Mairie on Friday and was told that everyone will have a visit from their rep to see if they keep birds and to advise on procedure but basically it seems that all domestic birds must be kept indoors and if they have runs they must be bird proof even down to sparrow size with solid roofs so wild birds cant poo into the run, also if you want to buy or sell a bird it has to have a visit to the vet but we dont think this applies to birds already kept, this is for all birds, even pigeons and cage birds, this is in dept 86, dont know about any other areas
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The situation is exactly as you have put it Krill and applies to the entire Country, no exceptions.In addition there must be no transportation of live poultry or domestic birds. Anyone found to be breaking these regulations can be fined and have their "birds" culled and removed from their premises.

Chris

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We've just spent a couple of hours clearing and sectioning off part of our barn for our 4 hens. They are in there now, looking quite unhappy but I'm sure they will settle in nicely soon.

We put in nesting boxes and constructed 2 perches out of old fence posts nailed to big blocks of wood.

There is no natural daylight unless I leave the door open so will have to fix a panel somehow across the doorway this afternoon.

Our problem now is getting straw so will have to go hunting for some small bales. I think we are in for a long haul with this, don't you Chris?
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Went down the lane to visit an elderly couple yesterday here in 29. They have tame pigeons and doves amongst other birds who roam the garden normally and feed from their hands but they had been told by family and neighbours as well as hearing it on the TV and reading the papers, to keep them caged indefinately now with covering over the roof mesh to stop any wild birds dropping faeces through. Basically the whole country is the same - confine your birds and cover the mesh. Feed and bedding too.
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Interesting to note that in Fridays la Montagne they are advertising a poultry market in Bourganeuf. Today the gendarmes drove very slowly through our hamlet - obviously checking for free-range chickens yet next door to the gendarmerie in Pontarion are some chickens blatantly free-ranging!

Our neighbours have no intention of confining their birds while ours are incarcerated in the barn (with cabbages on strings to keep them amused). Funnily enough, ours are still laying while our neighbours are not!

Gill & Alan
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[quote user="viva"]

750 euros does not seem much given the scale of the threat.

[/quote]

I quite agree, but our neighbours, firstly being French and secondly being NORMAN (worse reputation in France than a Yorkshireman in England I believe[;)]) think it's absolutely astronomical!!

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I went to our mairie on Tuesday, and was told that there was not anything I had to do about my 4 chickens as they had not received any instructions from the prefecture.

I tend to think that they are wrong, as from the news it looks like they should be confined, however there are chickens roaming free all over the place round here!

The vet told my neighbour not to buy any chickens until after the end of March, as by then the migratory birds would have been and gone, but this was advice and not a regulation.

We're in 87, BTW.

hoverfrog
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It is now absolutely compulsory in our d'agglo for every owner of poultry, ornamental or domestic birds to register them with their local mairie. This has been printed in the local paper all week and incurrs a heavy fine if owners do not comply and with the confiement restrictions.
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Yes,  the maire came round yesterday with the forms so we registered out two chickens - all birds, including pigeons etc have to be declared. Oddly enough you have a choice on the form about whether they are totally enclosed, under cover or free to roam. We have given ours a plastic cover over the run of their eglu, and keep them in, which seems to comply with the rules, at least as far as the maire and the vets are concerned. There are still plenty of people with chickens outside or without covers on the runs.
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An edict from our maire  + a form have arrived. We do not have anywhere under cover that would be suitable for our 4 birds so, unless they can find board and lodging with a neighbour, it will be neck stretching time. Only 1 is laying at the moment so I should have done this anyway.

John

not

 

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I'm still unsure of my legal obligations. I can understand the need to confine one's poultry before the migratory birds come over, but what I see on the news conflicts with what I've been told at the mairie.

At the end of the day, who's in control? Are we under the supposedly coutrywide edict of confining 'volaille' or do we listen to the mairie?

If it comes to confining cats and dogs then I'm really in the merde... in the meantime I would like to do what I have to do, but would like the authorities to agree on what that is!

Yes, if it was easy I would have already confined my paultry 4 poultry (sorry for that! Couldn't help myself) but in practice it's not that easy.

In the local 'newspaper' this week some of the neighbouring communes are taking the threat seriously, with compulsory registration at the mairie, but ours is somewhat backward.

Oh, and as for the cheap BOGOF offers, there aren't any round here :( It's still expensive :(

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interesting that the 'PC" police have turned m-e-r-d-e into *** - must be bi-lingual PC-police!

I won't be stretching the necks of my birds, but I might forget to shut them in at night...

Lucky I've already cleared it with the neighbour that he'll kill any rabbits we beed for eating, and if I protect my new trees he can graze his sheep in our 'chicken yard'!

hoverfrog
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Our closest neighbours are allowing their free rangers to range freely as they usually do, all over the chemin rurals.  Nothing about confining them on the noticeboards in our little commune.

I'm told one problem for the neighbours is that neither of them have tvs nor, in one case, a radio, so she may not even know there are any issues about avian flu.

We've put getting chickens on hold again, wait for all this to blow over first.

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Have at last received a letter etc. from the Maire - delivered by hand

and strict order to get them enclosed. Can someone translate this

please: "Confinement - regle generale _ maintien des animaux a

l'interior de batiments fermes. Si non praticable, maitrise du risque

par des modalites particulaires d'alimentation, d'abreuvement et de

protection des contacts avec les oiseaux sauvages + realisation d'une

visite veterinaire"  ( before the 15th march). Does this mean that

they can still free-range if the vet says so? Seems similar to Will the

conq's instructions. Also" Utilisation des eaux de surface pour le

nettoyage des batiments et des materiels l'abreuvement des animaux"

forbidden. Is this the same as others have received? There is more to

it than this but can understand the rest. There seems to be no specific

mention of roofing. Have been dreading this as we have 40-50 birds and

some are real escape artists. All I can see it achieving is the faster

spread of other infections etc within the confined area. Pat.

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Well it does say that they are supposed to be kept in an enclosed building and I would say that meant that it had to have a roof on it.

 

I think the rest says that if they are outside then it is your responsibilty to keep their food and water well away from the risque of contamination by wild birds and that a vet would have to see them.

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We have also received a letter and form to complete, but am unable to answer one question as I can't find anything in my dictionary for the word appelant. The question is 'les oiseaux ci-dessus declares sont-ils utilises comme appelants'? Could somebody please tell me what this means?

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I believe its "appellant" - isn't that a captive live bird that is used to call/attract other birds when hunting?  (read this recently by Chris pp, I believe, when discussing bird flu but can't find the post now!)
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