Turkey farm on front foot against bird flu

Good biosecurity is top of agenda

A Staffordshire poultry producer has ramped up biosecurity in a bid to keep his business safe from bird flu.

Mark Holt houses 40,000 turkeys in four state-of-the-art sheds at Toft Farm Growers, near Stafford. Formerly a dairy farming business, the Holt family diversified into poultry in 2019 to complement their 260ha arable enterprise.

With an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) in place across England and further housing measures in some areas, Mr Holt says tight biosecurity is the first line of defence in protecting his substantial turkey flock.

But he also recognises the need to be prepared for the worst – and the importance of a clear action plan and comprehensive biosecurity protocols in place should an outbreak occur.

Poultry shed manager Freddie Webb works closely with Avara Foods and biosecurity experts Livetec Systems to maintain maximum protection for both their birds and business income.

“Birds arrive from the hatchery at a day old, with stags grown on until 140 days, while the hens are thinned out,” says Mr Webb. “Being a new site, we’re luckily set up to be as biosecure as possible.”

Measures implemented to minimise the risk of disease transmission include shower facilities, shed-specific clothing and step-over barriers. Annual biosecurity audits provide a further layer of protection.

“One handy thing we’ve installed more recently is a pressure washer permanently rigged up on the yard, so we can easily spray disinfectant all over the yard or onto any incoming vehicles – there’s no skimping on disinfection.”

Still at risk

Despite these measures, Mr Webb acknowledges the farm remains at risk – particularly from third-party visitors such as contractors and catching teams. The risk became all too clear when another farm in their supplier group contracted bird flu, he adds.

“After talking to the farm who had contracted avian flu, they mentioned how difficult it was to have everything organised when dealing with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA),” says Mr Webb.

“From organising muck removal, cleaning and disinfection, to liaising with APHA to provide the information they needed about the farm that might not necessarily be right to hand – it sounded very stressful.”

This prompted Mr Webb and his team to take additional preparatory steps. “Should the worst happen, we wanted to be well prepared with an outbreak management plan in place,” he says.

Contingency plan

With support from Julian Sparrey, technical director at Livetec, the Toft Farm team has developed an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) to ensure all employees can act immediately bird flu strikes.

Mr Sparrey works alongside poultry managers to create bespoke action plans, including essential documentation, such as premises maps and key contact lists to be used in the event of a bird flu outbreak.

“When speed is critical in an emergency, being forewarned is forearmed.  This plan is incredibly valuable for helping farm businesses reduce the time between suspecting disease and starting the recovery process.”

This helps businesses return to normal faster, says Mr Sparrey.

Compensation

“By streamlining the paperwork process with the APHA vet, who was then able to assess the live hens more quickly, Mr Baxter maximised the compensation he received.”

Having key documents readily available can make all the difference in such situations. Producers are provided with two copies of the ERP, one to follow and another to hand over to officials.

Mr Webb reinforces this point: “Heaven forbid, an outbreak happens on our farm, it would obviously be a highly stressful time. In that situation, when you’re trying to tell lots of officials what they need to know, the easiest thing is to have it all in one place, in an easy-to-access document that we can hand over to APHA.

“While we’re insured for an outbreak, it’s still crucial to limit the length of time you’re destocked for to minimise loss of income.

“If we’re ready to go when APHA turn up and get that process rolling quicker, we’d hopefully be back up and running that much sooner.”