If the trial of vaccinating chickens against bird flu succeeds, it would be a godsend for many poultry farmers. “That would be very positive. Then the chickens will no longer get sick and they will no longer have to be culled,” says poultry farmer Chiel Gielen from Biddinghuizen.
A trial will be held in September to vaccinate poultry against bird flu. This takes place on two farms, one of which is located in Flevoland. The exact location of this farm has not been disclosed.
At a poultry farm in Biddinghuizen, 11,000 chickens had to be culled on Tuesday because bird flu was detected there. The contamination took place three weeks after the lifting of the long confinement light. There is now a transport ban in a circle of ten kilometers. Egg vending machines in the area may remain open. You can read here what this means for eating eggs and, for example, for the shelves in the supermarket.
Scare
Gielen about the recent contamination: “It is always a shocking moment when that happens in the area. What will happen, what does this mean for your company?” It is now extra bad for the poultry farmer because he was preparing to get rid of the laying hens. They are old and that is why new ones have to come. But in any case, he is not allowed to transport them for the next 30 days. “If there is no new outbreak in that time, they can leave after that.”
Insecure
Gielen used to have free range chickens but has stopped doing so. This is partly due to stricter legislation and an uncertain future. A vaccine would not immediately mean that he would start with free-range chickens again, because he would first have to make many adjustments to the space around the house. Still, it would mean a lot to his company: “Even if the chickens are indoors, they can get bird flu. If it’s on my shoe or the wind blows in, they can already get sick.” Kuiken of no
The vaccines that are now being tested can be injected into the chicks, but according to Bart Jan Oplaat of the Dutch Union of Poultry Farmers, the agent can also be injected into the egg with a small needle before it is hatched. At the moment, chickens are already regularly vaccinated against other types of diseases. This can be done, for example, via a mist that is sprayed over the chickens.
The solution
The vaccines that have now been developed work very well in the laboratory, chickens no longer get sick and do not pass on the virus. The products will soon also be tested in a poultry farm. If it works well, then this is the solution for poultry farmers and especially for farmers with free-range chickens, says Oplaat: “Society asks us to take the animals outside, but they run a great risk there. If we can protect the animals with a vaccine then they can go out carefree.”
The trial in Flevoland will last more than a year. Researchers from Wageningen University (WUR) will monitor progress.
2023-07-27 15:56:44
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