Peggy Ife spent her Friday afternoon trying to figure out how to dispose of the corpses of the last members of her flock of poultry after a deadly strain of bird flu was confirmed on her farm in rural areas in the southeast.
“[I’m] devastated. Confused, “she told CBC in an interview with her property near the small West Kootenay community in Burton.
Ife’s is the third herd in British Columbia to test positive for the highly contagious H5N1 virus, although the news came as no surprise.
On Monday, she told Radio West presenter Sarah Penton that she strongly suspected avian influenza when her list of about 70 laying hens fell to just a dozen in four days after the disease struck her farm. Some of the birds were lethargic and are not interested in food and after a little research Ife found that the probable cause is bird flu.
Her farm has already been quarantined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and more than 100 surviving birds – mostly chickens – have been euthanized.
“It really, really hurts me. “I came in last night and said goodbye to my babies,” Ife said.
Authorities are pushing for measures to prevent the transfer
Bird flu is spreading in North America and British Columbia confirmed its first case on a farm in North Okanagan earlier this month, followed by an outbreak in a small flock of poultry in the backyard in Kelowna earlier this week.
According to a British Columbia government statement, seven wild birds that died between 21 and 27 April also tested positive for H5 strains of bird flu, including three snow geese and a Canadian goose in the Vanderhoof area and bald eagles in Lac. la Hatche, Bowen Island and Vancouver.
BC has ordered all poultry traders with more than 100 birds to move their flocks indoors by the end of spring migration in May.
Authorities advised people with small flocks of poultry to temporarily stop filling their bird feeders and baths to reduce contact between domestic animals and wild birds.
Ife, who calls her chickens “my girls”, said she has always fed wild birds around her property.
“I fed wild birds for seventeen years and the girls ran free and nothing happened… It’s sad,” she said.
Peggy Ife called her chickens “my girls” and said she treated them like her children. (Peggy Ife)
Her losses include a 14-year-old goose, an eight-year-old hen and countless birds she said treated her children.
“They are very spoiled,” Ife said. “When I go to buy groceries, it’s funny because I’m not just looking for myself, I’m looking for my birds for everything that’s on sale.”
She said she would like to see a lot more research on bird flu so employees can get a better idea of how it spreads.
In her case, the small birds were kept in a separate structure from the older animals and showed no signs of disease, so she can’t help but wonder how necessary it was to erase them.
However, Ife is ready to start over.
“I will move on. “I have friends who are starting their incubators for me,” she said.
Cases of bird flu have been confirmed in several other provinces, but no infections have been found in humans.
The CFIA said the disease is not considered a serious concern for healthy people who are not in regular contact with infected birds.
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