Your Farmer's Opinion on Bird Flu + Local Source of Soy-Free & Organic Feed!

Good morning from the farm!

With Bird Flu in the news, egg prices soaring, and bare store shelves in some places, I thought you might be interested on what things are looking like here on the farm and what my perspective is on HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza)!😀

Bird Flu

Avian influenza is found in virtually all wild waterfowl in it's low pathogenic form, but when it mutates to the highly pathogenic form (such as the current outbreak of H5N1) it can be deadly for poultry — especially those with compromised immune systems...

Over 95% of eggs in the U.S. come from confinement poultry farms where the the chickens are confined in a barn with contaminated air and NO sunlight.

The thing is that Avian Influenza is particularly sensitive to ultra-violet radiation which is exactly what is found in direct sunlight! 

There are several things in our outdoor, pasture based model of raising chickens that contribute to a lower chance of contacting Avian Influenza:

#1 Sunlight - I can look out from my desk right now and see our laying hens outside their winter housing enjoying the sunshine! The sun is nature's sanitizer — the more the merrier!

#2 Less Stress - Most commercial egg farms provide only 1.25 sq. ft. per hen of indoor housing space (including commercial pasture raised farms). Our hens are enjoying over double the amount of space inside the coop and plenty of area outside to enjoy as the weather allows! Just like humans, less stress promotes a stronger immune system.

#3 No GMO's - GMO feeds "may predispose the birds to inflammation, immune stress and microbial imbalance" according to APPPA (American Pastured Poultry Producers Association).

#4 No Vaccines, Antibiotics... or other immune system compromising toxins!

The unfortunate thing is how the government is trying to control the disease — by complete extermination of all the chickens in a flock if one hen tests positive. The problem with this (from my farmer perspective) is that the chickens that would have survived and built immunity are killed along with the rest of them - so there is no way to strengthen the genetics for the future...

It's important to realize that Avian Influenza is found in virtually all wild waterfowl, and short of exterminating all wild populations, it's not going to be going away anytime soon.

In my opinion, the commercial egg production model is fundamentally flawed resulting in immunocompromised chickens. The future for a more stable and resilient food system starts with smaller flocks of chickens being outside and on healthy pasture in their natural environment!

You as the consumer are in the drivers seat for making this change to the food system — by investing your food dollars in small family farms instead of huge national corporations!👏❤️

Does bird flu impact the eggs? 

From what I've seen, the risk of contacting the bird flu from eggs is extremely minimal, so using your usual cleanliness standards is what I would recommend.

Our Egg Supply

Thankfully our flock of hens has been laying extremely well this winter so we have a good supply of eggs right now! It has been exciting to hear from at least one customer how she can handle our soy-free eggs just fine but other eggs don't settle very well with her. It's always encouraging to here how our hard work is making a difference in someone's life!❤️

Local Organic & Soy-Free Feed Source

Several people have asked recently where they can get high quality feed for their chickens locally so I thought that there might be more of you with the same question!

I just wanted to pass on that I found out from one of our customers (thanks Kacy!) that Jed Martin in Eureka grinds feed right there on his farm and sells it to people with backyard flocks! All of his feed is organic and he also has options for soy-free which is amazing!

Since learning about Jed, we've started using his feed and have been impressed with it so far! You can get ahold of Jed at this cell phone 309-224-1730. Feel free to mention that you had heard about him from me!😀

Have a blessed weekend!

Your Farmer,
Corbin
Prairie Creek Pastures