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Poultry must be kept indoors for 30 days because of bird flu risk, warns government

All poultry should be kept indoors for 30 days says Defra (Rex)
All poultry should be kept indoors for 30 days says Defra (Rex)

All poultry are to be kept indoors to stop the spread of a highly-infectious strain of bird-flu across Europe, experts have warned.

Chicken, ducks and turkeys should remain inside for 30 days, the government’s chief vet has said.

Nigel Gibbens, of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said the precautionary measure for poultry was being introduced by the Department because of an outbreak of the H5N8 bird flu strain.

No cases have been recorded in the UK so far, but this strain of poultry flu has been found so far in 14 different European countries including France and Germany.

Ducks kept inside a Yorkshire farm during a previous flu scare (Rex)
Ducks kept inside a Yorkshire farm during a previous flu scare (Rex)

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Government advisers have now ordered poultry farmers to move the animals indoors for 30 days to separate them from wild birds.

They have also been told to watch out for symptoms of the flu, which includes breathing difficulties and swelling of the bird’s head.

“As a precaution, and to allow time for poultry and captive bird keepers to put in place appropriate biosecurity measures, we have declared a 30-day prevention zone to reduce the risk of infection from wild birds,” said Professor Gibbens.

Chicken farmer Daniel Brown, who has 40,000 hens in Cambridge, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We’ll be shutting them in this morning. We’ll be putting in extra toys for the birds – straw bales, empty bottles, cardboard boxes – anything to give them something else to think about.

The current strain of avian flu has spread across Europe (Rex)
The current strain of avian flu has spread across Europe (Rex)

“They love going outside, and now they can’t for their own safety so we’ll be doing anything we can just to keep the birds happy.

There is very little risk to humans, added officials.