Confinement regulations for poultry brought in to contain the spread of bird flu in Ireland on 23 December 2016 are beginning to worry free-range poultry producers.

In a statement to the Irish Farmers Journal this week, the Department of Agriculture said: “In light of the potential risk of H5N8 to the Irish poultry industry, these regulations remain in place until further notice.”

The purpose of the regulations is to keep poultry away from wild birds, which are the natural carriers of the disease.

Nine cases of the highly infectious H5N8 strain of bird flu have been detected in wild birds in Ireland since the end of 2016, seven in migratory birds and two in indigenous species.

However, the housing regulations are beginning to worry free-range producers, who have only 12 weeks under EU regulations from the date the regulations are introduced until they lose their status. The crunch date for Irish producers is 17 March 2017.

In its statement, the Department said the European Commission has confirmed it will not table a proposal to extend the 12-week derogation.

IFA poultry chair Nigel Renaghan said free-range producers are getting worried as the 17 March deadline draws closer. “The fact that H5N8 has been found in indigenous species means my best hope of it going away with the migratory birds is gone,” he said. “This is a big worry for free-range producers. We have to protect the Irish poultry industry but I also do not want to see the free-range industry go to the wall if birds have to stay in past 17 March.”

Renaghan is due to discuss matters relating to the free-range industry with the Department this week. He will also travel to Brussels on Thursday to see how Ireland’s EU counterparts are coping with their own housing restrictions.

Relaxing of rules in UK

Meanwhile, in the UK, where the housing regulations were put in place in early December, and where cases of H5N8 have been discovered in both wild birds and poultry, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be relaxing the housing regulations for certain flock owners from the crunch date there of 28 February to avoid damaging the free-range industry.

Over 550 cases of the H5N8 strain have been detected in wild birds and poultry in Europe since the first case relating to the current outbreak was discovered in Hungary at the end of October 2016.

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