Topic: Are you not worried .......

[Rosyred]

about keeping hens with this flu going round? Reason I ask is cause we had 3 hens last year until the fox had them cause my husband didn't lock them up one night when I was out. I would love to get more but I have young children and also look after children so I can't impose I risk to them. Last time I heard on the radio that we should stop visting areas where wild birds are parks, farms etc. Also they say we would catch the flu through our eyes or breathing in. We also wash our hands after handling the hens but if it could be caught through eyes or breathing then I can't stop that.

[CityChick]

In a word... personally.... "no"!

Especially when you consider the small number of people world wide who have actually caught it.  And most of those live in VERY close contact with their birds.  Nothing like we do here. 

May I suggest you check out some of the other forums that cover poultry specifically in more detail, or have sections with active discussions already on bird flu?  They can put over the facts better than me.... Eg:

http://www.practicalpoultry.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl

http://forum.downsizer.net/

http://forums.thepoultrykeeper.co.uk/index.php

IMHO if you look at the dangers logically it is far more risky to get in your car and drive any day than it is to keep chooks, but we're not ditching our cars, are we :-\

PS - not sure I've heard it can be caught through our eyes before - if anyone has any more details on that, please do share....

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've heard that you get it through contact with the poo of infected birds. How many of us dip our hands in it?

[Palustris]

You have to live far closer to infected birds thean we ever do, so no we are not worried. Our main concern is the silly panic reaction of the press etc.

[Paulines7]

That's right Robert and that's why it is recommended to keep the water trough inside the chicken house or undercover.  The risk is that any flu stricken ducks, swans or geese that carry the disease could drop faeces into the drinking water whilst flying over.

Rosyred.  If you are to get anymore chickens you will need to have a place where they can be kept undercover if told to do so because of a local scare.

[Rosyred]

At this time i'm going to hold tight and not get any. Our last ones we let free range the garden but next time I won't as they make such a mess and half my plants went.  Its gone very quiet again at the moment about the bird flu.