Pig farmers in East Yorkshire who also keep ducks have been reminded by the National Pig Association (NPA) that if they happen to come under bird flu restrictions in future days, they will be subject to “whole farm” movement measures, including pigs.
The process to date has involved checking with pig units in the area to find out whether or not any include ducks in their farming systems. For any who do, the message is to plan ahead for potential movement restrictions which will also prevent pigs leaving the holding in question, creating an obvious challenge concerning the need to accommodate more pigs within the unit than would normally be the case.
As for the confirmed bird flu case itself, NFU chief poultry adviser Gary Ford expressed his confidence in the fact that farmers already take on-farm hygiene and biosecurity “extremely seriously”.
He also said that the farm involved in the current case had been described by the government’s chief vet as having “high standards of biosecurity” and that it is “a good farm”.