Chickens

[fenwoman]

By now most of you will have heard about that wealthy 'filth and misery' farmer, Mr Bernard matthews MBE having avian flu on one of his farms. Only about 55 miles from me. A lot of you will know that I keep chickens and parrots. Did you know that if DEFRA decide to go on a killing spree should it get close to me, not only will they kill my beloved chickens, some on the rare breeds list and some strains I have developed for decades, but they will also kill my parrots, right down to the cockatiels and budgies?
Did you know, that in an effort to be seen to be doing something, DEFRA banned all imports of parrots and other wild caught birds, but allow imports of poultry? They kept that quiet didn't they?
A lot of hatching eggs and day old chicks are imported from places like the eastern bloc countries, into this country, because the workers on the hatcheries there are paid a pittance. It is too expensive to hatch and rear our own birds in this country. Now that is the true price of cheap frozen supermarket chicken and turkey.
I am praying to all the gods I can think of that this strain of avian flu (apparently the same as the one in Hungary last month) has been brought over with day old chicks, into the sealed sterile sheds of Bernard Matthews and not got out into the wild bird population because if it has, and they come and kill my beloved birds, I will end up in a mental asylum or worse, in jail for pitchforking the first DEFRA man who tries to kill my birds. How can I stand by while they take 'crickle' and 'crackle' the quaker parrots who yell "'ello", sneeze, cough like me, sing songs? Or Jessibelle and Lala who wave one foot in the air and say "waaaaaave....I'm waving', or open their wings and say "big wingies" and also sing songs?Or my little Meyers parrots who only say "night night" or "beep beep"?All and reared by me and know only me, to be handled by strangers and dieing terrified by gas.
I don't think I will be able to come out of it mentally unscarred. It will finish me. So please pray for me and all other bird keepers in East Anglia and help prevent another outbreak by only buying british reared free range poultry. What you save on the price of some chicken portions, my birds may end up paying for with their lives and so too will I.
'Fudge' my buff cochin

Andalusian chick on rare breed list

one of my blue partridge show winning Dutch bantams

Giovanni my white leghorn bantam cockerel

Beep beep

Gabriella and mango

Please pray for us!

 

[lmbridgen]

My heart truly goes out to you and the thousands in your position, I will pray for you all.
I live on the essex/ suffolf borders and I know of a lot of free range farms in this area that will now be truly worried as you are.
Just a note on free range products, I buy my chickens direct from a farm, they cost about £1.50 per bird more than the supermarkets but have twice the amount of meat and flavour, they are not full of water!!
I wish I could end this message with some encouraging thoughts for you, but other than lets hope and pray its contained in Bernard Matthews farms I dont know what else to say.
Please keep us posted on any further developments.

Much Love

Marion

 

[grahamsokel]

I really am thinking of you at this very worrying time.I am worried sick about it and i am hundreds of miles away.
I do know how you are feeling as i went through the same with my Goats up here during the Foot and mouth only i did lose them and i dont think i could cope with going through the same again with my birds

 

[grahamsokel]

Hows things going down your way with the Bird Flu
I am dreading them saying all birds have to be kept in,My chickens wont mind but the ducks and geese would hate it

 

[Miss Wiggle]

thats awful fenwoman, really thinking of you. When I heard on the news the other day that they'd probably have to kill all the turkeys from that farm i was gutted, feel so sorry for all of them.

i too try and get all my meat from a local farm where they raise them all themselves, a billion times nicer than the supermarket and also cheaper

 

[lljdma06]

I'm so very sorry Fenwoman. I will be praying that what happened to me doesn't happen to you. I can relate, though not in the same way. We had two huge citrus trees in our back yard, a grapefruit and a sour orange (for cooking). We gave fruits to neighbors throughout the year and the blossoms smelled fantastic. The fruits were juicy and large, and there wasn't a spot of any disease on any of the trees, yet Miami-dade county came and cut them down without mercy, saying they were infected (they never showed pictures or gave any proof) then a year later drops a Walmart giftcard for $100. As if that is a decent apology for cutting down two healthy trees. Those trees, which were about 10-12ft tall with 6 inch trunks were certainly worth more than that! And I only lost two trees, people down in Homestead lost whole small, disease-free orchards! Yet groves, of disease-ridden trees still stood, those that were operated by larger farms, that it. It was a bitter pill to swallow and I am truely sorry for your predicament. I truely hope DEFRA has more sense that Miami-dade county did.

There is, however, a happy end to the story. A year later, three orange trees sprouted from seeds in the area where their parent tree was cut down. They may have cut down the tree, but they neglected to remove the fruit from the soil.

All my best wishes to you in your situation.

 

[l.michelle]

I knowe this might be illegal, but is there any way you would be able to move them? Or hide them? I know you have hundreds of chickens, but perhaps if you find someone to help you, to keep them safe for you?

 

[fenwoman]

I knowe this might be illegal, but is there any way you would be able to move them? Or hide them? I know you have hundreds of chickens, but perhaps if you find someone to help you, to keep them safe for you?

not feasible at all. Most are PSGB rung with my identifying number on, plus, since I am a registered poultry keeper, DEFRA would ask where all my birds are. That's just the chickens. If I tried shifting the parrots I would lose several to the stress

 

[l.michelle]

Oh damn, but there must be something you could do to even hide them or whatnot. If i lived in England i would surely help you more.

Do these people search your whole home? Because perhaps there is a place in your home you can hide them?

 

[gems]

I really sympathise with you, I don't live in Suffolk anymore, but my parents still do and my dad keeps and breeds birds of prey so it is a worry for him too. I ALWAYS buy free range poultry and eggs having seen the state of a chicken farm my dad used to work on. Plus, we didn;t have turkey for our xmas meal we threw for our friends this year because I could only get hold of Bernard Matthews birds and I refuse point blank to buy them.

My thoughts with all bird keepers in Suffolk right now...

 

[Gill]

Oh My God, You must be going through Hell.

I have admired the Birds you have posted on here. Never knew that Poultry came in so many varieties and could be such stunning Birds.
That Blue Partridge is Amazing

I will say a prayer for you, and hope that the Contagian has been stopped @ the BM Farm.