how long left?

[Lanner_Man]

hi guys,
with this bird flu looming, do you rekon they will stop suplying DOC's and quail etc. i had a look on honeybrooks website but nothing mentioned about it on there. just wondering if i should contact them to see what their opinions are?

[Hawkmaster]

No problem! Feed Rabbit, and a host of other grub.

[HawkNorth]

Breed a few mice

[Lanner_Man]

thats ok if you got one or two bird. but i help out at my local sanctuary and DOCs are one of the main foods (aswell as rabbit rat and quail) it would prove very costly if we had to buy enough rats and stuff for 70 birds everyday.

[Osiris]

Honeybrook i believe get there DOC etc from Holland. Importing from there is soon to be stopped with the bird flu. People who use them will be unable to get DOC i believe.
I do not get mine from them so i am fine. I get mine from a UK DOC Breeder. Same applies with Quail.

Heres a Question. If they decide to stop people from hunting and flying how we gonna get Rabbit etc.?? We can go out and get rabbits via ferreting etc i suppose. Nevermind!!

[Lanner_Man]

am i right in thinking importing birds has already been stopped. theres so many rumours wondering its easy to get confused as to whats correct?

[Tr1gger]

Yes importing/exporting has been stopped. Hav to get as much rabbit as possiable for ur centre thats what we r doin

[Lanner_Man]

cheers andy

[Achilles]

My understanding of the situation is that there is a total ban on the importation of birds from outside of the EU. Therefore it should not affect the supply of DOCs from Holland.

[Shaun Byrne]

Does freezing not kill the virus anyway??

[Legion]

you could have a point there m8.. i saw a program on telly saying people of Iceland don't get colds, flu etc coz the virus cant survive the extreme cold .........

could be bo***cks but its a thought...;)

[Tr1gger]

not sure. They seem to be thinking about stopping them l8r. I dont no bout that one, but i think so. Remember this is bird flu no where near the same as our flu.

[Jarreth]

Everyone really should keep an eye on the Great Western Referral web site for advice on bird flu. DEFRA listen to them and so should we. All of us are worried about bird flu, and are relying on each other to act responsibly. Anyone going against advice risks spreading the illness, which maximizes a problem we will face, and need to minimize for our own sake. I hope everyone will act with selflessness to give all our birds the best chance of coming out of this alive.

[RabbitHawker]

Personally if you feed DOC or quail, I would stock up as I can see problems with supply if flu does get here, as import bans from the continent are likely.

[Graham Stuart]

its going to be like the pertrol crisis everyone will bulk buy doc's and there is gonna be a big shortage very soon...

[Tr1gger]

The supplier i get mine of of has stopped taking any new orders as he cannot keep up. Im sure thier is goin 2 be a problem getting DOCs and Quail. Im starting to build up a supply of rabbit to fall back on. I would reccomend that everbody thinks about getting an alternate food source.

[Kanati]

we breed mice on a very small scale, just for some variety for the hawks...we are going to get a few more tanks, and breed on a larger scale to keep us going if the DOCs run out and we cant get more.

Its probably a good option for a lot of you. they are fast easy to breed and easy to look after. and their food is not expencive.