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Avian influenza: farmers in Eure-et-Loir find confinement of poultry restrictive but necessary

When Alexandre crosses the Eure-et-Loir to take the Volailles de Véronique, a farm located in Civry-la-Forêt (Yvelines), to the slaughterhouse, the vision of birds from open-air farms causes ulcers.

Since November 5, France was placed “at ‘high’ risk in view of the rapid progression of the avian influenza virus in Europe”. “A measure of vigilance”, “with the approach of the migratory period”, specifies the Ministry of Agriculture, on its website, but which imposes restrictions on breeders. Among those, confinement of their animals to limit the risk of contact with wild birds, which could carry the virus.

“It’s like everything else”

“There are sane people who understand that it is better to lock up animals for a certain period of time, and there are those who do not give a damn! It’s like everything else. They say not to phone while driving and most French people do! », Plague Alexandre in front of these animals always outside, in spite of the obligation.

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Used to the outdoors

Not that the measure is completely satisfactory in his eyes, the Volailles de Véronique being specialized in the female production of guinea fowl, hens, ducks, turkeys… raised in the open air and sold directly. “It’s a constraint, of course! The animals are used to going out in the morning and returning in the evening. There is a stress that is created with this change of habit. With the Covid, we were forbidden to leave our home, we were a little stressed, blocked… Animals are the same! ”

“It’s a constraint, of course! The animals are used to going out in the morning and returning in the evening. There is a stress that is created with this change of habit. With the Covid, we were forbidden to leave our home, we were a little stressed, blocked… Animals are the same! “

A little more work

It also requires a little more work for poultry farmers who have to strengthen backyard surveillance. “You have to manage the diet. You have to manage your diet. As they must now be fed indoors, they tend to binge on a little more. The risk is to have a little fatter animals. It’s like a human being, when he is at home, he watches TV, he eats a little more… You have to manage a little more all that is aeration, ventilation, the litter too, you have to mulch more often. It is a slight additional cost. “

“We will do better …”

But for Alexandre, these few constraints are better than letting the poultry industry sink into a bird flu crisis. “If we let the wave pass, with the animals locked up, we will be able to bring them out faster. If everyone does what is asked of them correctly, we will do better! But humans do not always play the game! “

Difference in treatment

It is not so much the professionals who pose problems, in the eyes of Alice Challine, but the individuals. “They are not going to bring in their chickens. We, breeders, it’s our job, we have to comply with a whole set of regulations, we do training, and the small individual, he is not told anything while the risk is also present! », Deplores the breeder of laying hens and free-range free-range chickens in Label Rouge under the brand Ö d’Alice.

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Good sanitary practices

Installed at the Ferme de Mandres, in Billancelles, she recalls that professional poultry farmers have adopted the biosecurity rules, implemented since 2016, as part of influenza prevention measures. And Aline Challine evokes her good sanitary practices which do not date from today: “When I go to my henhouse, I change my clothes and shoes. And it is only then, that I return to my henhouse to see my animals. The individual lives with his hen who can have avian flu and transmit it … “

Improve daily life

For now, the new measures are not having too much impact. Always concerned about animal welfare, she continues to watch over all her bipeds, as she always has, but has added some elements to improve their daily life indoors.

“Anything I can give them, I do. I installed pricking blocks, so that they could satisfy their instinct for pricking, scratching. I bring them hay in small bales so that they can scratch and have a little greenery. I’m also going to add bells to them, like that when they hit them with their beaks, it makes music ”

A bit too much…

If the situation were to continue, she could lose her smile. And the fed up begins to win over the farmer who wonders if we are not doing a little too much. “I didn’t do this job to lock up my animals for six months of the year. They were already locked up last winter, we were allowed to take them out in May. And for a week, it started again. I have three hectares for my hens, my goal is to see them come out from 10 o’clock at nightfall. A hen is made to live outside! “

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Animal wellbeing

In Orgères-en-Beauce, the herd of the Grandvillain farm is housed in the same boat. “The measure is justified, but it brings us enormous constraints. We confine the animals but we are obliged to have a limited number of animals per square meter in a building, for the sake of animal welfare. “A bad for a good in the end, for Didier Grandvillain, who offers outdoor poultry (chicken and guinea fowl) medalist at the agricultural competition of the Agricultural Show in Paris, as well as Christmas poultry,” in progress. refining ”.

“We couldn’t go on …”

These outbreaks of influenza, more and more frequent in recent years, have prompted this poultry farmer, who works for starred chefs, to think about solutions to anticipate the now recurring threat of the virus, and at the same time other hazards that are shaking up agriculture.

“We couldn’t go on like this, locking up poultry that are supposed to be outside. After the bird flu episode three years ago, I realized that there would be more and more of it. To cope with this, I decided to cut my poultry production by half. But in return, I set up a catering workshop with my daughter. We only process products that are raised here. “

The Grandvillain farm found its way there thanks to the added value thus created. To produce it, farmers no longer have a choice: “You have to anticipate and not wait for everything to come from above. Nature causes us miseries, but we have done so much to her that you have to know how to ask questions and question yourself! “

Game birds concerned.
Avian flu prevention measures also apply to game bird breeders, of whom there are around ten in the department. “This corresponds to a reinforced level of biosecurity rules which already secure farms. Currently, my farm is completely closed, no one can access it to avoid exchanges with the outside. We have a whole protocol around the machines that go in and out, ”explains Thibault Pelletier, president of the union of game producers of Eure-et-Loir and Center-Val de Loire.
Controls, authorizations.
These measures provide in particular for reinforced conditions for the transport of game birds. “We have a regular veterinary visit to obtain transport authorizations. This allows us to continue to ensure our deliveries are safe. “
A lesser evil.
These rules, resulting “from the work of the General Directorate of Food, in conjunction with the national union of hunting game producers”, have the merit of clarifying things, in his eyes. “Avian flu is a real issue for poultry farming. It’s a sword of Damocles overhead! These measures are constraints in the organization of work, we will not hide it. But today, it is more reasonable to have biosecurity rules than not to be able to work ”, estimates this breeder of red and gray partridges, as well as pheasants, intended for those involved in hunting.

Chemcha Rabhi

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