Reports of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus have been increasing over the last two weeks and this shouldn’t be a huge surprise to most producers. Wisconsin had their first reported case in dairy cattle the first week of January. West Virginia has had two reported cases in backyard poultry flocks. One was in the southern end of the state and the other was in the north. One flock in Morrow County tested positive and there have been confirmed cases in Canadian Geese found deceased in the State.
We expect to see detections in wildlife this time of year. They have been a consistent reservoir for the pathogen. As temperatures have dipped, and natural feeding sources are limited, wildlife are drawn to the feed you are providing to your livestock and poultry. This creates an opportunity for this virus to pass from wild birds to your poultry.
It is impossible to exclude every wild bird from potentially contacting your animals and birds. What you can do is to increase your general farm sanitation and deploy means to exclude as many wild birds as possible. Backyard poultry may be the most susceptible, but there are risks to all animals. Take extra steps to protect your feed resources. Clean up spilled feed and feed your birds in an enclosed coop. If your coop isn’t completely enclosed, consider buying some extra netting to put over outdoor runs. Wild birds will be looking for a place to spend the night, so making sure access to your coops is restricted, beginning about 1 hour before dark to help keep them out overnight.
If you tend to other animals, your poultry is the last species you should care for in your order of operations. After tending to your poultry, you should change clothes and sanitize your footwear prior to starting other activities. If there is an option for one member of the family, or crew, to be responsible for the birds, that is another prevention option. If you experience a higher than expected level of mortality, or you have a number of birds that appear sick, you should contact your veterinarian as soon as possible. Birds that are suspected to have HPAI will be sampled and tested by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, and they will lead the process to confirm or deny the presence of the virus.
We are just getting started with our winter programming season. We held our first private pesticide and fertilizer recertification this past week at the AgPro Expo in Millersburg. The next local opportunity is January 27th at the Mt. Hope Livestock Auction. Registration begins at 8:30 AM. Pesticide recertification is from 9:00 AM to noon, and the fertilizer recertification is from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM. The recertification fee is $35 for pesticide and $15 for fertilizer, or $50 if you need both. As a reminder, this recertification fee is separate from the license fee that is to be paid with your license renewal fee to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
For those that would like to sharpen their commodity marketing skills, we will hold a Basics of Commodity Marketing program on February 3rd at Secrest Arboretum Welcome Center. This session will discuss how to draft a marketing plan, basic grain marketing contracts, and the use of LRP’s for marketing cattle. I will be covering marketing plans, and we will also be joined by our Allen County Extension Educator Garth McDorman and OSU Beef Specialist Garth Ruff. The program will run from 9:00 AM to noon, is free to attendees, and refreshments will be provided. We do ask that you make a courtesy reservation in advance of each program.
One webinar series has begun and the second starts soon. The OSU Extension Beef Team webinar series has completed two sessions, but there are still four more to go. The next is on February 5th and the topic is “Hay Quality Challenges in Ohio”. You can register for the free webinar at https://go.osu.edu/beefschool26. The second is the start of our All About Sheep webinar series. The first session is February 3rd at 7:00 PM. Dr. Brady Campbell will be covering a year-round sheep management calendar. You can register for this program at https://go.osu.edu/allaboutsheep26. If you have questions about any of these programs, or would like to register, contact me at the OSU Extension office in Wayne County by calling 330-264-8722. You can also access individual program flyers on our website at https://wayne.osu.edu and clicking on the “events” tab.
This article was previously published in The Daily Record.