Officials: Risk is highest for free-range poultry

About 90 percent of Ohio poultry is kept in barns.
REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (AP) -- State officials and poultry researchers say there's little risk of bird flu coming to Ohio, but if it does, the flocks most at risk are the ones being raised in outdoor pastures to meet growing consumer demand.
Farmers who specialize in free-range poultry downplay the concerns, saying their birds are protected and their farming methods inherently healthier.
A new strain of avian influenza that infected geese appeared in July in Asia, and the worry is that the disease could spread to wild birds that migrate to North America, said Teresa Morishita, an Ohio State University veterinarian. The disease also could be imported through smuggling of parrots, songbirds or fighting chickens.
About 90 percent of Ohio poultry is raised in cages in enclosed barns, according to OSU. Strict measures to prevent germ transmission should protect them, state Agriculture Director Fred Dailey said.
About 5 percent of Ohio's wild ducks, geese and other waterfowl carry bird flu, but it's a weak type that doesn't make the birds sick and does not transmit to humans. At worst, if it infects domestic poultry, they lay fewer eggs -- but that means money to farmers.
If wild birds do bring the more virulent form of the disease to this country, they could mix with the small number of outdoor flocks, said Y.M. Saif, head of the food animal health program at the OSU agriculture research center in Wooster.
"It could be then a danger to commercial birds," Saif said.
Farmer not worried
The virus rarely transmits to humans, so the risk of that here is extremely low. Free-range farmers said wild birds generally don't mingle with their flocks. They said they watch their birds constantly for health concerns, such as not eating or drinking.
"I want to follow good science, not just emotionalism about what's better," said Carl Bowman, co-owner of Bowman & amp; Landes. The 140-acre farm in western Ohio has one of the state's largest open-pasture turkey operations in the state, with 60,000 turkeys. The company raises another 13,000 at a farm in north central Ohio.
Bowman & amp; Landes raises some turkeys for a different purpose in barns. "By far our healthiest birds have been the ones on range," he said.
The only wild geese he's seen mingling with his birds are so-called resident Canada geese, which don't migrate.
Still, Bowman said he might be more concerned about bird flu next year if the disease spreads beyond Asia. All the chicks the company hatches are tested.
Safety measures
Eventually, the Ohio Poultry Association would like all commercial producers to test their birds, said Jim Chakeres, executive vice president. The U.S. Agriculture Department has biosecurity recommendations for smaller flocks.
Safety starts off the farm for a larger scale indoor operation, said Terry Wehrkamp, production manager of Cooper Farms in Oakwood in northwest Ohio. The company has divisions that raise feed, raise poultry and even cook the birds for deli and grocery products.
Employees are screened for exposure to other birds, even pet birds, and pigs. If they break biosecurity rules, such as not showering and changing into work clothes kept only in the barns, they're fired.
Indoor poultry growers are prepared if an outbreak were to occur, Wehrkamp said.
"I would be very nervous if my livelihood depended on free-range products right now," he said.
Chickens at Brunty Farms outside Akron are protected from wild birds in 12-by-12-foot pens covered with a net about 3 feet high, owner Ron Brunty said. The pens, which house about 1,000 free-range chickens on two sites, are moved through the pasture throughout the day to give the chickens fresh grass to feed on.
"I'm not concerned about our birds catching it," Brunty said. "I'm concerned about people flipping out about it to the point where they don't buy."