Vancouver Island poultry farmers on high alert over avian flu in B.C.

Egg producers on Vancouver Island are on high alert after 35 flocks of poultry across the country have been confirmed to have contracted avian flu.

For James Lockwood, the owner and operator of Lockwood Farms, watching over his flock is serious business. His 6,000 Cowichan Valley chickens produce nearly two million eggs a year.

“It’s important not to be complacent,” says Lockwood.

With the appearance of avian influenza in other parts of Canada, he is doing everything he can to protect his birds.

“Sanitizing our footwear, then when we enter, we shower,” says Lockwood. “Then we change into barn-specific boots and coveralls.”

On the way out, it’s another shower.

He knows that if the highly pathogenic strain was make its way into his facility, it could mean a death sentence for his flock.

“Which would be really devastating,” he says. “As many people could understand, we have to look out for everybody’s interests.”

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the bird flu strain H5N1 is within our borders.

Quebec has four confirmed cases; Ontario has 16; Saskatchewan has two; Alberta has 12 and B.C. has just one in the north Okanagan.

“What we do is humanely euthanize them and the barn is cleaned, disinfected and tests are done to make sure there is no flu virus left in the barn before new birds are brought in,” says Amanda Brittain, director of communications and marketing for the BC Egg and the BC Poultry Association.

The bigger concern for the poultry association is the transmission from the wild bird population into small backyard chicken coops.

Last week, the avian flu was suspected in a backyard coop in the Cowichan Valley. Test results over the weekend showed that those birds did not die of the highly pathogenic strain but did test positive for the low-pathogenic strain.

“The key is education and just [to] be on the lookout,” says Kate Fraser, owner of Bees Please Farms in Metchosin.

Fraser rents out chicken coops to prospective backyard farmers. She has been educating her clients on how to keep their chickens safe and healthy.

“Just being conscious of your yard and if you have any wild waterfowl in your area and watching what is in your yard,” says Fraser.

At Buckerfield’s in Duncan, if you are looking to buy some chicks, an abundance of caution is once again being taken.

Customers are not allowed to handle the animals. To even get close, you must sanitize and wear a mask.

“We are taking similar precautions to COVID,” says Kelvin McColloch, CEO of Buckerfield’s. “A virus is a virus and you can prevent it from transmitting relatively easily by just being diligent.”

The hope is that poultry farmers on Vancouver Island will be spared an outbreak and that their flocks will continue to flourish.