Rebecca Parker hosts The Kitchen Garden including Gardners’ Questions on BBC Radio Solent.

Earlier this month Rebecca visited Suzie Baldwin at Hollywater Hens to learn all about keeping chickens.

You can listen to the 12 minute chicken clip with Suzie on the BBC Radio Solent site.

Rebecca will also be coming back to Hollywater Hens to speak to Suzie again later in the year – more details will follow.

A bird flu prevention zone has also been put in place covering the whole of Wales (as well as England – see previous item) in a bid to stop the stop the disease from spreading.

So far this month avian influenza has been found on three separate occasions among wild birds in England.

The prevention zone will require all keepers of poultry and other captive birds, irrespective of how they are kept, to take appropriate and practicable steps, including:

• ensuring the areas where birds are kept are unattractive to wild birds, for example by netting ponds, and by removing wild bird food sources;
• feeding and watering captive and domestic birds in enclosed areas to discourage wild birds;
• minimising movement of people in and out of bird enclosures;
• cleaning and disinfecting footwear and keeping areas where birds live clean and tidy;
• reducing any existing contamination by cleansing and disinfecting concrete areas, and fencing off wet or boggy areas.

Read the full story at Walesonline and also see our earlier item on the English Prevention Zone.

Following the announcement earlier this month that Avian Influenza (H5N6) had been confirmed in wild birds in Dorset the government has now extended a Bird Flu prevention zone to cover the whole of England – please read details here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bird-flu-prevention-zone-extended-to-cover-whole-of-england

Hopefully we are all prepared after last year’s outbreak and we can try and contain it.

Please note that Hollywater Hens will be closed for the weekend of Saturday 23rd September and Sunday 24th September.

We will be open for business as usual the following weekend and during the week by appointment.

The government have updated their advice regarding avian flu:

All poultry in England to be allowed outside from Thursday 13 April following the latest evidence on the risk posed by wild birds.

“We have announced that the Prevention Zone rules will change from 13 April 2017. Keepers will no longer be required to house poultry or have total range netting in place in Higher Risk Areas of England. However, poultry keepers will continue to be required to follow our detailed requirements on strict biosecurity.”

Click here to read the latest press release from the government and here to see coverage by the BBC

It has been 12 weeks since governments in England, Scotland and Wales ordered poultry keepers to protect their birds from a highly-infectious strain of avian flu in Europe.
The emergency measures are now being scaled back and chickens can go outside in some areas.

From tomorrow (28 February 2017) new Avian Influenza Prevention Zones come into force in England, Scotland and Wales.
Poultry keepers must continue to follow enhanced biosecurity measures to minimise the risk of infection from wild birds.

Check the interactive map to see which prevention zone you are in and see the following links for more details of what is required in each zone:

More information about arrangements in England is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu

More information about arrangements in Scotland is available at: http://www.gov.scot/avianinfluenza

More information about arrangements in Wales is available at: http://gov.wales/…/environmentcountr…/ahw/disease/avianflu/….

Now that Hallowween is over why not feed leftover pumpkins to your chickens? Pumpkins are high in essential vitamins and minerals. Just check for any rot or mold and cut up into large chunks. Your chickens will eat most of the flesh leaving just the skin.