Due to the recent outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza (AI) on a large turkey farm in Indiana, poultry producers in Maine are reminded to maintain vigilance against its transmission, even in winter. As a result of the outbreak in Indiana, about 245,000 turkeys and 156,000 chickens have been euthanized, according to […]
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By Anne Lichtenwalner, DVM, PhD, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Winter weather has finally arrived in Maine. Most of us probably have our poultry flocks indoors right now, so we might think that the threat of disease from wild birds is minimal. For now, we still don’t have any poultry cases of avian influenza in […]
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The University of Maine Animal Health Lab staff wish you a happy holiday season! We would like to let you know that we will be closed for the holidays starting on Thursday, December 24th at noon. We will reopen Monday, January 4, 2016 for our regular business hours. Please keep in mind that if you […]
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University of Maine Cooperative Extension and University of Maine Animal and Veterinary Sciences will offer a free program about on-farm composting to manage animal disease and mortalities 3:45–7 p.m. Oct. 7, at Highmoor Farm, 52 U.S. Route 202, Monmouth. UMaine Extension professor Mark Hutchinson, associate professor Robert Causey and graduate student Alexandria Poulin will discuss […]
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By Anne Lichtenwalner, DVM, PhD, University of Maine Cooperative Extension It’s time to review biosecurity again, as the risk of getting avian influenza (AI) (and other diseases) from wild birds may increase this fall. The outbreak of highly pathogenic AI (HPAI) has calmed down, and Maine (and the East coast) escaped so far. After losses […]
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By Anne Lichtenwalner, DVM, PhD, University of Maine Cooperative Extension In the news this weekend was the story that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is now in Arizona … or is it? Apparently a source in Iowa sold gamebird products that were contaminated with HPAI, and these were “traced” to destinations that include Arizona, a […]
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Anne Lichtenwalner, associate professor of animal and veterinary sciences, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, has updated information about avian influenza (AI) in a bulletin for poultry producers. On June 8, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reported a confirmed case of avian flu in Michigan, making it the 21st state in the U.S. affected by […]
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By Anne Lichtenwalner, DVM, PhD, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Since late last year, a real problem for poultry producers has arisen in the United States: highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). In late 2014, following a cluster of cases in southwestern Canada, HPAI (contagious bird flu) was isolated from birds in backyard poultry flocks in […]
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It’s easy to know whether to worry about highly pathogenic diseases that may blow in with the breeze and may wipe out your flock (either because the disease is quite virulent, or because regulatory agencies need to “stamp out” flocks that have the disease): yes, you should worry. However, the essence of survival in our […]
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Gabe Brown, farmer and rancher from Bismarck, North Dakota, will deliver the keynote address at the Maine Grass Farmers Network annual conference scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 21 at Kennebec Valley Community College, 92 Western Ave., Fairfield. Brown, a pioneer of soil conservation farming, practices integration of crop and livestock production […]
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