We get occasional hen health questions like this: Question: I’m hoping you can provide a little advice. One of our six three-year-old chickens has been laying eggs that are so soft they break immediately, sometimes the shell is just a shriveled-up little blob, and once or twice I didn’t see any shell at all, just […]
Read more
Is Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in the United States over? No. HPAI continues to impact US domestic and wild birds, and we should be very grateful we’ve not recently had domestic flock cases in Maine, but very cautious to keep it from happening again. Between this February and last week, approximately 37.7 million poultry […]
Read more
Bird owners should not relax their vigilance about wild birds yet. Migration season will be very active for weeks to come, and wild birds may pass through your area or may settle in for the summer breeding season. In either case, their respiratory secretions and feces can spread the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus. […]
Read more
Updated Resources: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), May 5, 2022 Should you be concerned about your flock’s health? It’s a bad year for avian influenza all over North America, and we’ve had our share of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Maine. Please visit these links to learn more about preventing HPAI in your area, […]
Read more
Submitted by Anne Lichtenwalner, University of Maine Associate Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences and Director of the UMaine Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) swept into Maine this spring, but due to the efforts of our animal health teams and to the sacrifices of poultry owners, it is not here at the […]
Read more
— Content provided by Donna R. Coffin, Extension Professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Piscataquis County, donna.coffin@maine.edu Maine Animal Health Officials Respond to Avian Influenza For more information contact: Jim Britt at: Jim.Britt@maine.gov Current Situation USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in samples taken from eight small flocks […]
Read more
By Anne Lichtenwalner, University of Maine Associate Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences and Director of the UMaine Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Dear Maine poultry owners, We have recently had some of our Maine backyard poultry flocks become exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).* We are not alone — there are similar situations in eastern […]
Read more