Worst bird-flu season in years hits Alberta’s poultry farmers

Alberta’s poultry producers are dealing with their worst avian flu season in years.

Scott Olson has been through this twice before.

A Wetaskiwin-area turkey farmer lost his flock of 10,000 birds in the spring of 2022 when the wild geese migration ended, and again when they returned in the fall.

Now he is dealing with his third outbreak and third murder.

Olson is again pressure washing his two large barns – disinfecting them while awaiting inspection – and preparing to restart a recertified operation with new kids after Christmas.

“It’s a very bad disease,” said Olson, director of Alberta Turkey Producers.

“We operate with a stamp-out policy, essentially so we’re not impacting our neighbors… It’s like a fire: You’re just trying to put out the fire.”

Olson was one of 11 commercial poultry farms in Alberta designated as an active quarantine and control zone as of Nov. 30 under the direction of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

There were a total of six in Alberta in 2024, including two in large commercial operation. Chicken and turkey meat farms, egg production facilities and hatcheries are seeing 10 outbreaks in 2023 and 38 in 2022.

Overall, 2.5 million birds have died in Alberta as a result of avian influenza in that time period, second only to British Columbia with more than nine million deaths.

Two-thirds of the total deaths across the country occur in those provinces.

And it’s gotten even worse in Alberta this fall.

“It’s on everyone’s mind,” said Jeff Notenbaumer, who raises chickens near Lethbridge and serves as director of research at the Canadian Poultry Research Council.

He has avoided the outbreak but is sympathetic to those whose herds are in danger.

“You know, we’re all extra cautious that we’re doing everything right.”

Farms protect against sprawl

This means separating herds, limiting visitor access, and washing shoes or tires before entering the equipment barn.

Some biologists wonder whether the “biosecurity” standards necessary to prevent highly infectious disease are attainable for agricultural operations.

“(High-level) biosecurity in a barn where you’re running a tractor is a big challenge, to keep it completely safe,” said Kathy Magor, a biology professor at the University of Alberta who specializes in avian flu.

He said the concentration of poultry facilities near waterways, where birds nest on migration routes, is the main reason for the high numbers in the West.

This virus may be present in feces left in fields.

And what some might point to as the obvious suspect may not be the main culprit in the spread, Mager said.

“Everyone hates Canada geese, but they’re very susceptible to avian influenza; if they get it they die,” Magor said.

He said more study is needed, but some wild birds may be more dangerous carriers because they can live longer with the disease.

“Some of the other species that are migrating are less susceptible and can probably carry it further.”

This autumn, the outbreak moves from north to south, possibly due to the mild fall and extended migration period.

Time is money for farmers who get paid based on weight

Alberta’s Ministry of Agriculture reports outbreaks have been seen in 22 herds since the beginning of the year.

The latest is a 40,000-turkey operation near Taber that was discovered in late November.

The outbreak, although devastating to individual farmers, represents a relatively small portion of the estimated 15 million kilograms of poultry produced each year by Alberta turkey farms.

And according to agricultural price observers, this is not enough to raise prices for consumers. Still, Statistics Canada reports that turkey prices in October were slightly above last fall in Alberta and across the country.

But for individual growers, the outbreak represents months of work and lost profits.

When Canadian Food Inspection Agency If it orders the killing of animals related to an infectious disease, it compensates the owner for the market value of the animals at that time.

This means that if the herd or herd is still maturing – the pounds growing are what determine the price – the payout is less than farmers expect to earn at the end of the season.

There are also additional costs and downtime involved.

“While I’m cleaning and disinfecting, I’m potentially missing the flock,” said Olson, who has already delayed the delivery of a batch of new turkey chicks, known as poultry, after an infection appeared on his farm.

“It’s a big blow to them mentally, too,” Notenbommer said. “Depending on different feather (poultry) industries, it could take more than a year to recover.”

Fields and surrounding land become ‘primary prohibited area’

Olson’s 10,000 birds were housed in two large barns and were deemed exposed last month after testing positive.

“Avian influenza pretty much decimated one barn – it works very fast – and another barn was euthanized,” Olson said.

The strategy to combat bird flu from 2022 includes “emptying out” a farm to eliminate the disease in specific locations, known as “containment zones”. No livestock is allowed in or out of the premises. The bodies are destroyed or buried deep underground.

After the order is lifted, monitoring of the death of wild birds within a radius of 10 kilometers continues for 28 days.

Once cleaned, disinfected and certified by inspectors, agricultural activity can resume.

This strategy, commonly used for the most serious diseases in animals, has been the center of controversy this year killing a herd of ostriches He was exposed to bird flu in British Columbia.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Declined interview requests about the situation in Alberta and the outbreak of 100,000 turkeys southern ontario This month.

Olson told CBC News he is happy working with the agency but is becoming frustrated with the cycle.

“When the swans came in the spring (2022), our farm got it. And when they went home in the fall, we got it again,” he said.

“I didn’t market turkeys that year.”