If There Is A Pandemic Will You Be Able To Still Buy Chicken?
- Thread starter Hansa44
- Start date
The Flying Dutchman
Deceased
Hansa44 said:
FWIW: - (IMHO)
Chicken will become so rare (in numbers) that they likely will not be sold commercially for some time..
H5N1 uses birds - (looks to be all spiecies) as a carrier; and yes! It will still be carried by them, after it has developed a fondness for Humans....
We have talked about this very thing. If we have our little flock, how do we protect them. We have a coop with a fenced area in back. Currently the top is left open, but we could cover with a tarp. I suppose if you protect against the birds flying over, you can protect your flock. We let them free range now, but would put a stop to that in a hurry.
Chickens are a vital part of any homestead. We not only plan on the meat, but the eggs as well. A few good laying hens would keep a lot of protein in the diet. Chickens are great at eating the ticks and other obnoxious bugs around the farm. And if nothing else, they provide a good deal of entertainment!
Chickens are a vital part of any homestead. We not only plan on the meat, but the eggs as well. A few good laying hens would keep a lot of protein in the diet. Chickens are great at eating the ticks and other obnoxious bugs around the farm. And if nothing else, they provide a good deal of entertainment!
Ya'll are forgetting what happened in GB during the big "Foot and Mouth" disease outbreak. Uninfected livestock on smallholdings were slaughtered (with no compensation?) even though they were miles from any infectious sites. The same will happen with all domestic poultry (chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys etc.)when HN51 hits ;as a "public safety measure" of course.
Hansa- of course, the truth is, no one knows. Certainly, any flocks- even the biggest commercial flocks- which show any signs of actual disease will be culled immediately.
The wild card is going to be what TPTB will do about smaller flocks, or flocks which show no signs of illness, but after all, are still chickens.
I fear the "we're all gonna dieeeeeee!" mentality will prevail, which will mean that they will rapidly make keeping ANY small poultry flocks illegal, and you'll see all sorts of well intentioned- but poorly designed- regulations about chicken crossing state lines (or even county lines, given a pandemic situation).
So, I do think it's probably a wise prep to stock up on chicken and turkey now, if you have the money and freezer space. There is an interesting question in my mind about whether chicken will be extremely expensive- due to all the culls and a lack of supply- or dirt cheap, due to people's fears about "catching" the flu from handling chicken or eating it.
Doesn't matter to me.. .I'm growing my second batch of 50 Cornish Cross meat birds, and have Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner on the hoof as well, gobbling their heads off and growing like weeds.
I'm hoping it doesn't come down to a forced cull... I've got some fairly rare breeds out there in my laying hen pen, and I suspect that my birds- because they tend to free range and also end up sharing feeders with wild birds- probably have at least some immunity. Bird "flu" in one strain or another is already pandemic all over the world. Birds which were raised in complete isolation, with all sorts of biosecurity measures keeping them from ANY germs- those are the ones which will be at real risk.
For those thinking of stocking the freezer, just remember to use heavy freezer bags, and draw all the air possible out of the bag, allowing the plastic to "hug" the meat.. and you'll have very little freezer burn. For long term storage (a year, or even 2, if you are really careful) you have to use a freezer which does NOT "self defrost" and you want it set down at 0° F, or even a little below that. We've eaten 3 year old chicken from our freezers under those conditions, and there was no way to tell how old it was by the taste or texture.
Summerthyme
The wild card is going to be what TPTB will do about smaller flocks, or flocks which show no signs of illness, but after all, are still chickens.
I fear the "we're all gonna dieeeeeee!" mentality will prevail, which will mean that they will rapidly make keeping ANY small poultry flocks illegal, and you'll see all sorts of well intentioned- but poorly designed- regulations about chicken crossing state lines (or even county lines, given a pandemic situation).
So, I do think it's probably a wise prep to stock up on chicken and turkey now, if you have the money and freezer space. There is an interesting question in my mind about whether chicken will be extremely expensive- due to all the culls and a lack of supply- or dirt cheap, due to people's fears about "catching" the flu from handling chicken or eating it.
Doesn't matter to me.. .I'm growing my second batch of 50 Cornish Cross meat birds, and have Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner on the hoof as well, gobbling their heads off and growing like weeds.
I'm hoping it doesn't come down to a forced cull... I've got some fairly rare breeds out there in my laying hen pen, and I suspect that my birds- because they tend to free range and also end up sharing feeders with wild birds- probably have at least some immunity. Bird "flu" in one strain or another is already pandemic all over the world. Birds which were raised in complete isolation, with all sorts of biosecurity measures keeping them from ANY germs- those are the ones which will be at real risk.
For those thinking of stocking the freezer, just remember to use heavy freezer bags, and draw all the air possible out of the bag, allowing the plastic to "hug" the meat.. and you'll have very little freezer burn. For long term storage (a year, or even 2, if you are really careful) you have to use a freezer which does NOT "self defrost" and you want it set down at 0° F, or even a little below that. We've eaten 3 year old chicken from our freezers under those conditions, and there was no way to tell how old it was by the taste or texture.
Summerthyme
viral smile
Inactive
So meat birds are affected, but will there be a cull of pet birds (parrots) as well?
Taz
Deceased
We are hoping to be back home in Fl by the 15th and one of the first things I am going to do is to go to Sam's Club and buy 50# of chicken thighs and can them. I did 60 pts of chicken stew before we left for Houston in Feb. Also have a lot of turkey stew and chicken/rice soups canned. We found canned chicken to be very handy for a quick meal as it makes its own gravy while in the canner. Heat it up and pour over hot biscuits and you have a meal.
As soon as I hear the avian flu is in the US, I quit buying chicken or turkey.
Taz
As soon as I hear the avian flu is in the US, I quit buying chicken or turkey.
Taz
VS- who knows? ALL birds (apparently) are susceptible, in varying degrees, to these viruses. Interesting information has just come out that the ubiquitous Robin may carry West Nile Virus far more frequently than Crows- although Crows have been blamed for being the main vector. I can only surmise that a dead crow takes longer to disintegrate, and hence is noticed more often than a dead Robin.
The problem with household pets will be twofold- first, they are unlikely to have any more immunity than people, since most of them haven't ever mingled with wild birds. And second, they usually are living so closely to humans, that if they DO contract flu, they are likely to be a source of infection for others in the household.
Still, I can't see it happening- I can see TPTB asking for people to "voluntarily" do anything from quarantine their pets (put them in a separate room, only have one person designated caretaker, and have that person use typical isolation room techiniques, including mask and handwashing before and after entering) to voluntarily euthanizing them. I don't see many people complying, and unless a spooked neighbor rats you out, it's unlikely there would be any major enforcement efforts. Once we hit true pandemic status, make that "NO" enforcement effort- by then, all energies of any healthy people will be focused on trying to stay alive and healthy, and taking care of urgent business... nursing the sick and burying the dead.
Summerthyme
The problem with household pets will be twofold- first, they are unlikely to have any more immunity than people, since most of them haven't ever mingled with wild birds. And second, they usually are living so closely to humans, that if they DO contract flu, they are likely to be a source of infection for others in the household.
Still, I can't see it happening- I can see TPTB asking for people to "voluntarily" do anything from quarantine their pets (put them in a separate room, only have one person designated caretaker, and have that person use typical isolation room techiniques, including mask and handwashing before and after entering) to voluntarily euthanizing them. I don't see many people complying, and unless a spooked neighbor rats you out, it's unlikely there would be any major enforcement efforts. Once we hit true pandemic status, make that "NO" enforcement effort- by then, all energies of any healthy people will be focused on trying to stay alive and healthy, and taking care of urgent business... nursing the sick and burying the dead.
Summerthyme
Hansa44
Justine Case
I learned that when you freeze meats you do like summertime says plus get that white freezer paper and roll the plastic wrapped product in several layers of this paper. Meat stays good for a couple years. No freezer burn. Or use those large brown grocery bags.
I think I'm going to go out and stock up on chicken and turkey immediately, if not sooner. You never miss something till you can't get it anymore, and we could hear of bird flu at anytime now in this country.
I think I'm going to go out and stock up on chicken and turkey immediately, if not sooner. You never miss something till you can't get it anymore, and we could hear of bird flu at anytime now in this country.
viral smile
Inactive
Summerthyme - thanks for your input. This has the potential to wreck many of my aviculturist friends' livelihoods. And I'm tearing up at the thought of snuffing my little cockatiels... grrrr.
dreamseeer
Membership Revoked
.....domestic pet birds kept in the house. Kinda reminds me of the canary in the coal mine. When the bird drops dead.........you have your answer if or not it is in your house. People may in this case bring the bird flu to the bird instead of the other way around like in the coal mines. Maybe the amount of virus killing the bird won't be enough dose to kill a human (providing the virus just wafts in the open window). But if the parakeet or whatever dies I would sure put on my mask......then pray a lot.summerthyme said:
Mary
My Drawing of Monet
Cin, good idea. I don't eat any red meat and haven't since 1989 or so. But I do eat chicken and turkey. That's it for meat. But tofu and legumes is a good idea. I'll also need something that doesn't need to be heated up and is fairly inexpensive.
Mary (no garden, no lamb)
Mary (no garden, no lamb)
prudentwatcher
Veteran Member
For several months Albertson's has been selling boneless chicken breasts for $1.79 to $1.99/lb, first every other week and now every week. I take that as a sign to continue buying it. I buy 5-10 lbs a week and can it. I'm up to almost 3 cases of pints canned and about 30 lbs in the freezer. I'm buying more tomorrow. I prefer chicken over any kind of meat.