Bird Flu Confirmed In Britain

[BrianM]

on sky news NOW two parrots in britain have died of bird flu


god help us

[Sparrie]

When did it get into parrots, Where about is this brian.

Gary

[BrianM]

get the telly on now,,,,,,,,,,, its on all the news

[HunterPaul]

just been on here and said it was 1 parrot, but that the uk would still maintain it flu free status....???????????????????

[BrianM]

one is dead and one is infected,,,,,, its in a imported bach of parrots in quarinteen( spelling )

[HunterPaul]

cant beleive that birds are being imported at this particular time.... it makes no sense...I wouldnt be importing birds from any where I wouldnt give a **** if it layed golden eggs....

[Tim Laycock]

It is not the virluent strain of the virus at any rate.

[Blaze]

How stupid is our goverment ......Then they'l wonder why its happened

[HunterPaul]

the government should stop all bird imports ...yesterday..... they wont be so slow outa the blocks when it comes round to sending ppl round to cull our birds...well let em bring it on....there gonna have 6ft 2 ...16stone of f***ing lunatic to deal with when they come to my house....and I bite...

[Moritz]

calm ******* down guys!!!

[Blaze]

calm ******* down guys!!!
It seems like it could turn into something a lot worse to me

[Tim Laycock]

Moritz, when you are a little older and come to a deeper understanding of politics you will understand the gripe!

[Moritz]

Well I actualy managed to get some back ground info and got info from some top avian vets. The reason why birdflu brocke out in russia, vietnam turky and romania is because the hygen in poultry keeping is not to the standard it is in the EU. They life closely with their birds so unless you sleep with your HH in one beed you should be fine. Bird flu gets transmitted mostly by ducks in big flocks. The Parrots were in a quarenty station so the virus stays in it. It was the H5 strain which is not dangerous to humans. The media push the whole story.

Thx

Moritz

[Sparrie]

http://channels.aolsvc.co.uk/lifestyle/article.adp?id=20051021163709990001

[Talib]

Well I actualy managed to get some back ground info and got info from some top avian vets. The reason why birdflu brocke out in russia, vietnam turky and romania is because the hygen in poultry keeping is not to the standard it is in the EU. They life closely with their birds so unless you sleep with your HH in one beed you should be fine. Bird flu gets transmitted mostly by ducks in big flocks. The Parrots were in a quarenty station so the virus stays in it. It was the H5 strain which is not dangerous to humans. The media push the whole story.

Thx

Moritz

Who is saying it is not the H5N1 strain???

Testing for H5N1 takes much longer than initial testing for H5.

H5 is the virus group, there are nine sub-types within the H5 group and H5N1 is one of the subtypes... it will take several more days before it is known which sub-type of H5 is being dealt with.

Talib

[Achilles]

Bloody hell. I would like to know at which port these birds arrived and where they were in quarantine. I was visiting the animal importation centre at Heathrow last Friday.

[Barbary Boy]

i agree wth hunter paul

[Tr1gger]

cant beleive that birds are being imported at this particular time.... it makes no sense...I wouldnt be importing birds from any where I wouldnt give a **** if it layed golden eggs....

How stupid is our goverment ......Then they'l wonder why its happened

Bloody right. It really does make u wonder about our government.

[Moses]

shocking thing was the strain came from south america , we all thought it all started from south asia

[Tr1gger]

Jesus m8 that is shocking

[Moritz]

Hi guys,
how it looks like it came from asia. All birds have been killed. You are right talib. But the thing is that it did not come on the wild way eg migrating birds.
So it has not really arived in the UK. I saw a report that the RSPB whant to stop importing of birds.

Moritz

[Tr1gger]

They should stop importing birds, with the parrot case confirmed to be the H5 strain they should really start thinking about the risk to humans that are working around these birds in quarantine(spelling?).

[BHawk]

first of all if you read the sun, scientists fed 11 out of 13 infected chickens with fermented cabbage (saurkraut) and those that were fed the cabbage showed signs of recovery within a week so if the bird flu infects the uk all those that work with birds should stock up even if its not totally effective it will still give our birds a fighting chance. even more important to me is the fact that so many people are worrying about the possible loss of human life. by becoming a falconer i have conciously chose to dedicate my life to these astounding creatures and would be more concerned of my bird becoming infected than i would of myself. my life is with these birds and i am ashamed of others that have claimed to do so yet they seem more worried for themselves than for their bird(s)
ben

[As The Falcon Her Bells]

if you die who will look after your birds???? :wink:
Anyway, welcome here to the forum. What birds do you fly at the moment?

[BHawk]

very good point. the main point i was trying to explain was that i hate it when you hear of people so upset by the possible loss of human life when the amount of birds to have died from it is exceedingly greater. we shouldnt hide from birds. us humans have a better chance of surviving the bird flu than the birds. anyway i fly a harris hawk at the moment after my redtail died after flying into a fence after a rabbit last winter.

[Kornie]

How is the government going to regulate the REAL threat, that is...migrating birds!! At least those being imported and exported are mostly captive bred and for any movement from country to country must be quaranteened.

[Pitbull]

[quote=BrianM]on sky news NOW two parrots in britain have died of bird flu


it was confirmed on the news today that the original parrot in essex that had the flu DID NOT the sample that was sent off was really a sample fom finches from tiawan

[RabbitHawker]

A typiac DEFAR cock up, but it happens. The threat is real enough, I spoke to DEFRA about the penalties for unlicensed field meets- up to £5000 fine or 6 months prison sentance.
Act responsibly, apply for licenses and show how active and responsible we are.
Chris

[BHawk]

everyone worries over the migrating birds but i dont think migrating bird are such a big threat, this virus has been around for quite a while and was always in the cage and avairy paper since the beginning of this year, in that time it seems hard to think that it hasnt spread over here already, theres always stray birds entering the country and we've still been relatively safe so i think the concentration should be bird smugglers, quarantine is in place and is very effective, smugglers on the other hand can easily bring in infected birds unnoticed...

[StormRider]

Has anyone actually seen the quarantine aviaries in Heathrow? I am led to believe by a vet that used to work there that birds from all journeys are placed in the same quarantine bays. No attempt is made to seperate the actual location of the birds when they arrive. This smacks in the face of intelligence as far as I am concerned. If I import a bird on its own and then it turns out that it has been quarantined in a bay with other birds that could have come from anywhere, then my bird contracts a virus thru no fault of its own when it didnt actually have the virus in the first place. My bird then gets destroyed because they couldnt be bothered to place my bird in a seperate and bio secure quarantine bay. Obviously, I havent actually imported a bird, but my female harris is the daughter of an imported pair fromSouth America.
I am disgusted that this could be a possible scenario and that uninfected birds could be put at such risk.
I do hope that I am wrong about this. I am so passionate about it I am considering writing to DEFRA and Heathrow to see if they can elaborate on my potential findings and hopefully they will prove me wrong. TWATS

[Barbary Boy]

has everyonr received their bird flu bulletin today from defra?possably those of you with none registerables may not have got it?it offers all sorts of usefull and really practical advice!NOT?

[Hawkmaster]

Funny BB, I also though it was a waste of money send such useless info?

[Achilles]

Has anyone actually seen the quarantine aviaries in Heathrow? I am led to believe by a vet that used to work there that birds from all journeys are placed in the same quarantine bays. No attempt is made to seperate the actual location of the birds when they arrive. This smacks in the face of intelligence as far as I am concerned. If I import a bird on its own and then it turns out that it has been quarantined in a bay with other birds that could have come from anywhere, then my bird contracts a virus thru no fault of its own when it didnt actually have the virus in the first place. My bird then gets destroyed because they couldnt be bothered to place my bird in a seperate and bio secure quarantine bay. Obviously, I havent actually imported a bird, but my female harris is the daughter of an imported pair fromSouth America.
I am disgusted that this could be a possible scenario and that uninfected birds could be put at such risk.
I do hope that I am wrong about this. I am so passionate about it I am considering writing to DEFRA and Heathrow to see if they can elaborate on my potential findings and hopefully they will prove me wrong. TWATS

I cannot answer your question until Monday at the earliest. The Importation centre is run by staff employed by the Corporation of London. The three guys that deal with Cites quiries are cracking blokes and I will give them a ring on Monday. During my last visit I did not get to see the quarantine block because the Avian Flu birds were there at the time.

[Barbary Boy]

Funny BB, I also though it was a waste of money send such useless info?
the people next door to me keep chickens and ducks the other side of the hedge from my birds, how am i meant to keep 30 bop's away from all poultry? and my aveiries all have part open tops right under the hedge, how am i meant to protect them from wild birds ******** into my pens?

[StormRider]

I gto my DEFRA bulletin tday. Interesting reading (YAWN). As far as I am concerned it says no more than what I can get from the Tinternet. I guess Ill just have to place it with all my other interesting stufff that I have from DEFRA in my file. My problem at the moment is keeping pigeon **** out of my aviaries from the birds that my neighbour flies from his lofts. Thinking of training a local spar or getting myself an airrifle. Do all these letters get sent out to pigeon fanciers, by the way.:idea:

[Barbary Boy]

I gto my DEFRA bulletin tday. Interesting reading (YAWN). As far as I am concerned it says no more than what I can get from the Tinternet. I guess Ill just have to place it with all my other interesting stufff that I have from DEFRA in my file. My problem at the moment is keeping pigeon **** out of my aviaries from the birds that my neighbour flies from his lofts. Thinking of training a local spar or getting myself an airrifle. Do all these letters get sent out to pigeon fanciers, by the way.:idea:
egg fu**ing zactly m8?

[Kentish Falconry]

Has anyone actually seen the quarantine aviaries in Heathrow? I am led to believe by a vet that used to work there that birds from all journeys are placed in the same quarantine bays. No attempt is made to seperate the actual location of the birds when they arrive. This smacks in the face of intelligence as far as I am concerned. If I import a bird on its own and then it turns out that it has been quarantined in a bay with other birds that could have come from anywhere, then my bird contracts a virus thru no fault of its own when it didnt actually have the virus in the first place. My bird then gets destroyed because they couldnt be bothered to place my bird in a seperate and bio secure quarantine bay. Obviously, I havent actually imported a bird, but my female harris is the daughter of an imported pair fromSouth America.
I am disgusted that this could be a possible scenario and that uninfected birds could be put at such risk.
I do hope that I am wrong about this. I am so passionate about it I am considering writing to DEFRA and Heathrow to see if they can elaborate on my potential findings and hopefully they will prove me wrong. TWATS

I had not noticed this thread before:
I have been to the AQS at Heathrow many many times over the years, in fact in 1969 I was one of the concrete mixer lorry drivers who were taking Ready Mix to them to build the bloody place never for one moment thinking I would hate the sight of the place so much. They have ripped me off for thousands of £'s over the years.
I have been inside the AQS on the holding side and collection side many times and there are supposed to be areas for each shipment to be kept seperate but this is not the case nor is it possible with the ammount of animals passing through, the box's can be in rooms and mixed with other box's or just left in the corridore areas on trollies. I am supprised that there are not more problems arrising from the cross contamination as there are consignments awaiting forwarding to other countries as well as commercial imports for the UK all in one big airspace. You have to pay a fee for each box that is held there for you but these days it is a flat rate fee we used to have to pay for each box every 6 hours or part of a 6 hour period it was there, no wonder it allways took a minimum of 8 - 12 hours to clear a shipment but if you were really lucky they would hold them for 5 days and still charge you for each 6 hours even though the birds were dropping dead because they didn't have the correct food for them are know how to look after them either. No compensation because it's not their fault your £10,000.00 Gyr falcon just decided to drop dead after the 30th person dragged it screaming out of it's travelling box to check the ring number again or an expert in Budgies had turned up to identify the sub-species of the Falcon in the hope that they could find just one little thing wrong so they could confiscate the bird and give it / sell it to one of their friends. It happens beleive me.

Not to miss out on the oppertunity to earn a little cash they now have a room in the BA area at Gatwick Airport Cargo terminal as well as Theifrow sorry Heathrow Airport with no proper facilities at all and they charge you the same rate as the AQS at Heathrow
I'll get back off my soap box now

[StormRider]

Bloody hell Kentish,
That sounds even worse than what I was sprouting on about. This would make a cracking spread in the News of the World. If they can ****** up Glitters plans in Vietnam then they surely could do the same with DEFRA in Heathrow.
I am not in the position to own a GYR costing £10,000, but Im sure that if I was it would probably be healthier for the bird if he just came over in my suitcase. I cant beleive it when DEFRA are looking to push all the responsibility on us guys yet are unwilling to help us on the way.
You sound like a well connected bloke Kentish. Maybe u could have a chat with yr friends (if u have any) at the Hawk Board and see what they are prepared to do.
Now its WAR!
I aint angree!

[Kentish Falconry]

Bloody hell Kentish,
That sounds even worse than what I was sprouting on about. This would make a cracking spread in the News of the World. If they can ****** up Glitters plans in Vietnam then they surely could do the
I am not in the position to own a GYR costing £10,000, but Im sure that if I was it would probably be healthier for the bird if he just came over in my suitcase. I cant beleive it when DEFRA are looking to push all the responsibility on us guys yet are unwilling to help us on the way.
You sound like a well connected bloke Kentish. Maybe u could have a chat with yr friends (if u have any) at the Hawk Board and see what they are prepared to do.
Now its WAR!
I aint angree!

Don't worry about the Hawk Board on this type of problem, not a lot they can do. It is technically nothing to do with DEFRA either but as stated in an earlier post CITY of LONDON run the show at the AQS along with Customs not quiet sure how they managed it as Heathrow is no where near the City of London. But it is a nice little money earner for them (bit like the Dartford Tunnel/Crossing)
I am not sure if any of you are aware but there is a Breeders group, known I think as the Federation of Proffessional Breeders, We have never managed to agree a final name for the Group nor have we yet agreed a criteria for membership of this Federation but I can tell you that we are holding meetings with DEFRA, CITES and JNCC to air our grievences with changes in the way we are charged for Registration and CITES paperwork and any other matters pertaining to Birds of Prey. Last year as I am sure some of you will be aware there was an attempt to raise the charges levied for Registration and Article 10 Certificates, this was challenged and a rethink by DEFRA is still going on. We will be having another meeting with DEFRA this week. The Hawk board also send some of it's members to these meetings and we work in conjunction with them. There is, as always with things like this, some confliction of ideas and agendas so it goes without saying that we all have our own ideas on how things should be done. There are at least 3 people on this list that are members of the Federation and I hope they will all be attending the next meeting. If only 2 or 3 of us turn up then DEFRA will not take us seriously and that will be the end of it.

[StormRider]

How Do I Become A Member Terry. I Am Looking To Start Breeding This Next Season. (scottish Peregrines). I May Even Contemplate The Ai Route With A Seperate Female.
Saying That, Would U Guys Be Looking For More Experienced Bods With Regards To Breeding On The Group?

[Kentish Falconry]

How Do I Become A Member Terry. I Am Looking To Start Breeding This Next Season. (scottish Peregrines). I May Even Contemplate The Ai Route With A Seperate Female.
Saying That, Would U Guys Be Looking For More Experienced Bods With Regards To Breeding On The Group?

Sorry Stormrider, I didn't make myself clear to you or clear enough anyway.
The Federation is for Proffessional Breeders only and is by invitation, in other words you don't join you are invited to become a member, you have to show that you breed birds proffessionally and that breeding is your main source of income.

[StormRider]

Ah right,
Is that whats called elitist?
Or is it a secret society?
Even if I was making a living from it then I wouldnt want to be part of something thats run like that.
never mind:-| eh.

[Kentish Falconry]

Ah right,
Is that whats called elitist?
Or is it a secret society?
Even if I was making a living from it then I wouldnt want to be part of something thats run like that.
never mind:-| eh.

Hey thats not nice is it?
It's all to do with Stake Holders when it comes to paying out fees to DEFRA who ends up paying the most? I don't how many birds you have registered in your name but what you have to think about is that the breeder had to pay the same ammount for registration before he sold you the bird as you do to transfer it to your name and also he has to complete the Breeders Cert / Article 10 certificate. Last year a questionaire was sent out by DEFRA regarding new levels of fees and a scale of Increases intended to be phased in over a couple of years. Registration was to be increased to an undisclosed sum (£60.00 was mentioned as a starting point) are you aware that the UK are the only EC country that has to have a seperate registration certificate? Article 10 Certs were to be charged for and full Cites were to rise as well. When these figures without the intended rise in Registration Fees were worked out they came to about £270.00 for each bird which for a large breeding project would mean that for 100 birds bred the breeder would have to pay the Government £27,000.00 before they could sell any birds that we don't have to pay now plus a minimum of £6,000.00 for Registration instead of the £1700 we pay now. If the Federation & HB had not challenged this you would now be paying these fees.
A lot of misinformed people seem to think that breeders make a whole lot of money every year but this is not the case, My feed bill alone is around £25,000.00 without maitanence costs, incubators,electric. purchasing new stock to improve bloodlines, paying wages, etc, etc, etc.
Where do you think this £270 per could be found? lets say you wanted a Pere tiercel at £450 and you would then be told you had to pay another £270 on top DEFRA charges to cover what the breeder had paid out to DEFRA. Then we come to registering the bird in you name you would then have to pay out the fees all over again. Would you be happy? no I didn't think so!
The Federation was formed to fight this and to try to cut down on the ammount of money wasted each year within DEFRA & JNCC checking and rechecking paperwork that was issued correctly in the first place.
This proposed set of new charges was for the UK only and not an EC directive so this would put all breeders of Falcons, Hawks and Owls at a disadvantage with the rest of Europe.
Elitist? no I don't think so, we are just trying to protect our rights to Breed and Sell Captive bred birds and to protect your rights as the end user to buy a BOP at a reasonable price or we would end up with a situation like Petrol where we are paying the government more money in Tax than the actual cost of the fuel.
The Breeders were invited by DEFRA to give an oppinion and along with the Hawk Board are fighting for you as well as us, where were you last year when the Questionaire was sent out? did you bother to read it? did you Reply? Tell me you did please or did you just bin it with the rest of the junk mail as it didn't seem to concern you at the time.
When others work on your behalf to try and help you at our own expense, Garry Wall & Andrew Knowles-Brown travel from Scotland to Bristol for these meetings, let alone the ammount of hours we spend reading EC regulations and Countryside & Wildlife Act along with documentation from people Like the RSPB & JNCC and recomendations from Bird Life International and trying to see what the Antis are going to try and pull next to try and stop us. We are a group of passionate breeders who love our birds and our sport and trying to protect the rights of all UK Falconers not just ourselves.
I like many others often wondered just what the Hawk Board actually did now I have a little insight into what goes on I can see just how dedicated to our sport they are and how hard they fight for our rights and they have to have eyes in their backsides to spot some of the things that are hidden in ledgislation that would effect us if they did not challenge it on our behalf.