The reaction from chicken and egg producers comes as England grapples with 27 outbreaks in three counties in September. Producers specializing in Christmas goose are particularly hard hit by bird flu.
Christine Middlemiss, the UK’s chief veterinarian, said she expected cases of avian flu to increase in the foreseeable future due to the migratory patterns of birds returning to the country.
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Avian flu has spread to several counties in the UK.
(iStock)
There have also been outbreaks in Oxford, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Devon, according to The Guardian. As a result, farmers are demanding that the government extend the current housing code across the nation.
“The sheer persistence of bird flu over the past year, coupled with rising energy and feed costs, has put the entire UK poultry sector under enormous emotional and financial pressure,” National Farmers Union Poultry Committee chairman James Mottershead said in a statement.
He added: “Given the recent rise in cases of bird flu and the hardship they are causing for farming families, the implementation of housing measures in the east of England is a necessary step.”
“The number one priority for poultry farmers has always been the health and welfare of their flock,” continued Mottershead. “As such, the National Farmers Union is now calling on the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to consider expanding regional housing measures on a national basis to reflect rising risk levels across the country.”
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The British Poultry Council agreed with Mottershead’s statement, adding that a housing regime for all breeding birds is paramount to the “safety of all birds”.