The housing restrictions placed on poultry farmers in Northern Ireland due to the bird flu outbreak are to be lifted on 17 March.

Farmers will be able to let birds outside, provided they put in place additional biosecurity mitigation measures to minimise the risk of infection from wild birds.

Robert Huey, chief veterinary officer at DAERA said: “The current housing requirement, which is due to end on 16 March, has allowed keepers time to introduce stricter biosecurity measures. Therefore, it is our intention to lift the mandatory requirement to house after this date, subject to keepers maintaining the highest possible levels of biosecurity.”

He stressed that removing the requirement to house birds did not mean that poultry keepers should stop being vigilant.

“The proposal to allow birds outside does not mean a return to business as usual. It will be necessary for all keepers to continue to ensure that their birds are protected from infection. Key to this will be practicing additional biosecurity measures, coupled with ensuring that their birds are separated from wild birds when outside. Keepers should of course continue to house their birds if that is the best way to protect them from disease.”

The measures farmers can take include:

  • Ensuring that bird’s feed and water cannot be accessed by wild birds
  • Avoiding transfer of contamination between premises by cleansing and disinfecting equipment, vehicles and footwear
  • Separating domestic waterfowl (ducks and geese) from other domestic species
  • Reducing the movement of people, vehicles or equipment to and from areas where poultry or captive birds are kept

    • Although the current housing requirement will be lifted, a new Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) will be put in place.

    Relief for free range farmers

    The news will come as a relief to free range farmers who were facing the prospect of losing their free-range status if they had to keep their birds inside beyond 12 weeks.

    Under EU rules, eggs from free-range birds housed for more than 12 weeks must be labelled as barn eggs, which are then sold without the free-range premium.

    Republic of Ireland

    In the Republic of Ireland, the Department of Agriculture has not been definitive on whether birds will be kept indoors past our own crunch date of 17 March, saying only that the regulations are subject to “regular review”.

    However, the Irish Farmers Journal understands that the Department is likely to keep the housing regulations in place past 17 March as a number of migratory birds which can carry the bird flu virus will not be leaving the country until the end of April.

    The Department and the IFA poultry chairman Nigel Renaghan are currently in disagreement over how free-range birds kept indoors past 17 March should be labelled.

    Additional reporting by Amy Nora Fitzgibbon

    Read more

    Retailers must support free-range poultry farmers facing bird flu ‘Armageddon’

    Britain confirms plans to let some birds out after 28 February

    Full coverage: bird flu