IMPORTANT – A human case of avian flu was detected in England.
A case of avian flu has been detected in a single individual on a farm in the Midlands. It is important to remember to wear full PPE whilst in contact with birds, including FFP3 facemasks, overalls (with the hood of the overall over the hair), gloves, and overshoes, and to leave all the PPE on site. You will be contacted by UKHSA (UK Health Security Agency) if you think you may have come into contact with the disease, and you will be offered antiviral drugs.
The risk of Humans contracting HPAI remains very low, but if you are concerned or you have symptoms then you should contact your own GP or NHS 111 .
Avian Influenza Update.
Cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza continue to appear; at the time of writing this newsletter, the latest confirmed case of H5N1 was in Loddon, South Norfolk.
Please remain vigilant and ring us if you think your birds may be suffering from Avian Influenza; we have been involved in several AI cases recently and can provide help and advice.
Please remember that clinical symptoms include a drop in egg production, high or sudden mortality, and respiratory distress.
If you are in a restriction zone, you need a movement licence to move your birds. These licences need to be completed by your vet within the 24 hours before movement.
Each movement needs a licence and due to the sheer number of farms that are currently in restricted areas, please contact us as soon as you know when your movement will take place to allow us to plan accordingly and assign you a vet without compromising your biosecurity.
If your farm is still under restrictions when you place the following flock, you will also need a pre-placement vet visit to check the biosecurity of the farm.
Movements of manure, eggs and Salmonella samples can be performed under a general licence.
Make sure that the disinfectants that you use on the farm are DEFRA-approved, and are used at the correct dilutions under the Diseases of Poultry and Avian Influenza Order.
In case of doubt, please contact any of our poultry vets who will be happy to help.
Housing Order For – Shropshire.
Mandatory enhanced biosecurity will now be required and the housing order extended to cover York, North Yorkshire and Shropshire. A housing order has also been extended in the north of England to cover York and North Yorkshire, and a new Housing Order has been ordered for Shropshire following an outbreak in the county. This came into force at 00:01 on Monday 27th January. This applies to pet birds, commercial flocks and birds in a backyard flock.
2025 Northern Broiler Conference.
The 2025 Northern Broiler Conference will be held at the Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford on Tuesday 11th February 2025. Sara Perez, Clinical Director at PHS, will be one of the speakers. As in previous years the conference is open to all delegates from the Poultry Industry. Registration is free and includes lunch thanks, to the generosity of the sponsors (Aviagen UK, ABN, Elanco, The Kersia Group, MSD, PD Hook and Wyreside Products).
To register and to find out more about the programme, please visit the Conference website: http://www.poultryconference.com/NBC/
PHS is sponsoring a new category at the 2025 Northern Farmers Awards.
This new category recognises the poultry farmer/producer of the year. The awards will take place on Thursday, 20th February at Pavilions of Harrogate.
Good luck to all of the producers that have been nominated!
BFREPA is on the road in 2025!
Following 2023’s roadshow success, BFREPA is heading out again in 2025! To meet members and get their feedback on some very important projects. For tickets and more information please checkout:https://www.bfrepa.co.uk/roadshow
Access to our Sutton Bonington Practice
Please be aware that from Monday 27th January the route to Sutton Bonington practice past the University and Marlpit Lane will be closed for 4 months. The road closure will be due to the rebuilding of a wall and there will be no access to vehicles during this time. The local authority has made the decision to block access to a number of back roads to avoid traffic build up during this time. The route via the A6 at Hathern will be unaffected but likely to be busier due to this road closure. The diversion for those coming via Kegworth and Station Road will be straight across the junction with College Road on to Melton Lane, continue on to Trowell Lane, right on to A606 and then right on to Park Lane into Sutton Bonington. We are sorry for the inconvenience that this will cause you but this is beyond our control. The Practice will remain open for vet visits, post mortems and collection of products. If you have any concerns about accessibility, please ring us in advance on 01509 458287.
Wellbeing
As a company, PHS are very lucky to have our very own Wellbeing Champion Lucia & Mental Health first aiders Meaka & Sam in our branches.
Each month we aim to share our favorite fun fact, recipe & quote.
Fun Fact: When walking, an emu can cross a full meter in a single step
Recipe: Why not make your own Kombucha?
If you need support with your mental health this is always available from https://rabi.org.uk/ the leading UK farming charity.
Advertise with us for free
Do you have a vacancy? Or want to sell equipment? Are you struggling to recruit? In Spring 2022, we launched the new PHS ‘Classifieds’ section – an online space for advertising jobs, equipment, services, and more for the poultry and gamebird industry in the UK. Please contact your local PHS branch for more information or to send us your advert. This service is available for free to PHS clients and for a small fee to non-clients.
Social Media
Social media is a great way for us to keep you up to date with what’s going on at PHS. We also like to share the occasional funny post, so if you’re a scroller then look us up! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter (@Poultryvets), and LinkedIn.
Our new Promo code!