Not every farm has to be a big business, but every farm needs to ensure the safety of their animals. Our guest for this podcast, provincial poultry specialist Amy Johnston, discusses strategies that small and hobby farms can put into practice to promote and improve animal health and welfare.
Not every farm has to be a big business, but every farm needs to ensure the safety of their animals. Our guest for this podcast, provincial poultry specialist Amy Johnston, discusses strategies that small and hobby farms can put into practice to promote and improve animal health and welfare.
Welcome to the Manitoba Agriculture and food Knowledge Exchange podcast. I'm your host, Jordan Cieciwa. And today we are talking about biosecurity and we're looking specifically at poultry. So this podcast is going to have a lot of great information for you. We're even touching on things like if you want to start your own farm, where to go, how to start and really to do it properly and safely lots of things to cover. So let's not hesitate to get started. Our expert for today is Amy Johnston. Amy, tell the people a little bit about yourself.
Amy Johnston:Hi Jordan. Sure. So I'm a poultry specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. I've been here for, just about three years and before that I was a poultry nutritionist as well.
Jordan Cieciwa:So we're going to get talking about raising our own food and for you, especially raising our own poultry. And I don't know if I want to say concerns that come along with it, but just making sure that everyone that gets, if you are interested in doing this or going and getting your food from someone that that is a small grow operation that you know what to look for. And I think the best place to start with that is in biosecurity and I've had a lot of fun doing this podcast, learning about biosecurity, but if somebody is tuned in for the first time, cause you know, we've piqued their interest with, you know, the small hobby farm side of it. Let's talk biosecurity first. And what do we mean when we say biosecurity?
Amy Johnston:Well biosecurity is really just the preventative measures that we put in place to protect flocks against diseases and some of these diseases may ultimately have consequences for human health as well.
Jordan Cieciwa:And we're talking just standard operating procedures. And I don't mean to oversimplify, but the easy things to do with biosecurity. So let's kinda go into that- of what are we doing with biosecurity.
Amy Johnston:So we have to understand that, you know, even if you have a small flock on your yard, they are at risk for introduction of disease, to people through equipment that you use through wild birds, insects, rodents, other animals as well as any feed or bedding materials that you use. So ideally what you need to do is just identify what are the risks that you have on your farm. And some of these are just asking questions. So, you know, a key one is when you're buying poultry, ask where are your birds coming from? Do you know where they're coming from? Do you know the health status of that flock? So, you know, you could look into purchasing poultry that come from registered hatcheries that have a disease surveillance program so that, you know, that you're purchasing healthy poultry. Certainly we know that there are some people that like to do some bird trading on social media, Facebook, that kind of thing. Just just know that is a higher risk, certainly because you don't always know the background of where those birds came from. So be sure to ask questions, you know, record where you got your birds from and when, and from whom.
Jordan Cieciwa:Cause I didn't think until you mentioned it, I would've never thought, is that if I go and buy chicken, turkey, any poultry for that matter, that if it's coming in contact with a wild bird that that could spread disease like that wouldn't cross my mind or that something as simple as a rodent having access to a barn. And I think that's, I think that's critical to know that larger producers take special precautions to ensure cleanliness, biosecurity, nothing gets in there. They even have, I visited a farm, laying farms for eggs and I had to change my shoes. I had to put on a smock, I had a hairnet, like it wasn't just a few little things. It was you're going in here clean for our bird's sake for our end product sake for the general public sake. So that is something that if I'm going to go and purchase from a small producer, I want to know those things.
Amy Johnston:Absolutely. Yeah. And it's also, you know, once you have your poultry on your farm look at what risks do you have and you know, ask questions again. So if you have people that come to visit, make sure that they're using, you know, dedicated footwear for poultry or you know, make sure that they're washing the bottom of their shoes off with just disinfectant, washing your hands after touching poultry, with soap and water. Because obviously poultry do carry diseases, for example, salmonella. I'm sure we've all heard that can often be contributed to outbreaks from poultry associated with poultry. So, you know, certainly handling your own birds does create some risk, think about, you know, where is your ritter stored, and your manure. What about your feed and water? Are they clean? Are they protected? Kept in a location that is protected from rodents and from other wild birds or other animals? Are you cleaning your tools, your waters, routinely? There are commercial detergents and disinfectants that you can buy. Livestock dealers carry them some, even some of the hardware stores carry them. So purchase some of those products, read the label, check to make sure that they're approved for poultry and follow the label instructions there. And just, yeah... some of it's just really common sense, just making sure that you're reducing the exposure of your flock to disease, as well as protecting the people that are handling them.
Jordan Cieciwa:What would I look for if I was going to go purchase from a smaller farm biosecurity wise?
Amy Johnston:Well, you know, check to see, does the farm that you were going to, do they have signage indicating that biosecurity, is practiced on their farm? You know, usually if you go on the farm, there should be signs that tell you to use either boot dips or change your footwear, wash your hands, you know, ask questions as to how the food is stored. You know, ask questions as to do they have other biosecurity measures in place to help protect the flock from disease.
Jordan Cieciwa:Now, if I am one of these producers, and it just so happens that I started small and my neighbours wanted some and then their family wants to have it. I've grown and things have kind of, I don't want to say gotten out of control, but my hobby is now a big hobby. Where can I go to get help on some of this stuff? Cause I mean, you're looking at it. What if a bird gets sick, you know, and it's something, how do I access some of the help that's available?
Amy Johnston:So first of all, anybody that has poultry should have contact with a local veterinarian, they would definitely be a very important resource to help with monitoring your flock. Particularly if you have any health concerns with your flock, they can help determine whether or not there are issues that would require, you know, either submission, to the laboratory for testing of the more common, higher risk diseases. We do have a program here with Manitoba Agriculture where, bird submitted from a smaller flock through their veterinarian can be submitted to our provincial vet lab. And they can be tested for high-risk diseases, such as avian influenza and also there's information on our website through Manitoba Agriculture, through our animal health and welfare pages and certainly if you're growing poultry at a large size and you're looking to continue that growth, contact the local supply manage sectors. So imagine what chicken producers manage with Turkey producers or manage with the egg producers for more information. They have more in depth programs in place, commercial registered poultry producers have on farm food safety and animal care programs that include bio-security in much greater detail. And so any anybody that's really looking to grow their farm, should contact one of these organizations, to look into what it means to register, to be a registered producer and grow that business.
Jordan Cieciwa:All right. So I'm going to speak right now to consumers like myself. Because I actually, I'm someone that does like every once in a while to go and support the little guy or to buy that extra local feel or go to the small markets and find things like that. If that is something that people like myself like to do, we can also demand of those farmers, some of these extras, to ensure that they are asked the questions, right? So there's a couple of questions, easy questions. I'm sure people could ask to make sure that producer that they're engaging with. Isn't just a nice guy, or nice producer, but they're actually doing smart things to ensure I get a safe product. That is something. If you've been listening this whole time, start asking some of these questions at, at the smaller markets and make sure you're getting a safe product now on a completely different side of the spectrum with biosecurity, they're the larger commercial sector. They also have programs in place. And what do those look like?
Amy Johnston:Right. So as I mentioned, there are national on farm food safety and animal care programs for chicken, eggs and turkey producers in Canada. These programs are audited, the producers are inspected regularly to ensure that they meet all the standards that are required for code and practice, for care and handling of animals, for ensuring that they have food safety, standard procedures in place as well as biosecurity. And so, again, as I mentioned, there may be some extra measures, or likely are extra measures that are put in place to help protect those flocks. You mentioned you had to put on a smock and use a hairnet, sometimes gloves. And in some cases, even people will use dedicated clothing or they will shower to access their flocks. So they have a controlled access zone is what it's called, which is the area where poultry are kept and that area is monitored for insect control, rodent control, making sure that feed is clean and a good quality and is stored in a manner that protects it from insects and rodents and wild birds.
Jordan Cieciwa:And I didn't know this, and I'm probably gonna use the wrong term, so you can correct me as I go through this, but I didn't realize that a barn, a chicken coop or whatever they call it nowadays. I didn't realize until I went on a tour of one, open farm day. Oh, I didn't realize that that to farmers, that structure is as much a protection for the birds from predators, et cetera, as it is from disease. And it's to them is a sanctuary, like it's keeping those animals safe and really reduces the numbers of needless deaths because you can keep disease at bay, you can keep predators at bay and that's the beauty of the barn, you're reducing the risk to animals.
Amy Johnston:Absolutely. Yeah. That's a really good point and these are some of the reasons why animals or poultry in specifically in Canada are raised this way. Certainly, you know, if you have a small flock at home, you can use some of the same principles, you know, keeping your birds indoors at night, putting up fencing to protect them against wild animals. Even simple things like if you're close to a pond that has access to wild birds, you may want to consider moving your flock so that they are less chance of coming in contact or, you know, put up flagging to deter wild birds from coming around your feed and waters, and certainly the commercial poultry industry has just really taken it up to the best practices for protecting their birds and also protecting food safety, because that's really critical for food supply in Canada.
Jordan Cieciwa:And I think that this is something, where I decided this is going back two years ago, is the first time I ever went to an open farm day before I started doing this podcast or anyone ever talked to me about anything? I like knowing where my food comes from, right? If I'm going to eat it, I want to know where it comes from. And I was absolutely fascinated that at that open farm day, I jokingly said to a farmer that I'm going to come back tomorrow to learn more. And he said, you can't, you have to make an appointment and it's something where not being allowed in a chicken coop or in with these birds. It isn't anything to do with not letting me see what's going on, it's to protec and the farmers that I met loved their birds, and it's like, I'm protecting them. And this is why we have these measures. So no, don't just come knock and come in for a walk. Absolutely. Yep, and that, I think that's something that I think the industry, I like people knowing that there is these caring farmers at the other end that follow these protocols for their birds so that they can make an end product for consumers that is as good and safe as it can be. Well with that all said last but not least, where do I find more information on raising poultry? If this is something I want to get into, where do I go?
Amy Johnston:Well, we have some information on our website, at Manitoba Agriculture, you can check out the livestock poultry pages specific for bio-security. You can check out the Manitoba Agriculture, animal health and welfare pages as well. Interesting bit of information for you is that we have, what's called a Premises Identification Program with Manitoba Agriculture. So if you go on the animal health and welfare pages, there'll be links to that application form. We really encourage all poultry producers, even small flock owners to apply for this. It allows us to put your information into our database and therefore you can be contacted, in the event that there is a disease outbreak in your area.
Jordan Cieciwa:Fascinating stuff, and again, I want to encourage anyone if you want to raise poultry, do it. There's nothing better than getting back in touch with our food and knowing where it comes from. So, Amy, thank you so much for the information and, uh, I can't thank you enough for being on the show.
:Thanks Jordan.