It’s that time of year again when bird flu rears its ugly head. As you can see from the map it’s reached a premises in Devon (Crediton)
We are currently in an Avian Flu Prevention zone with housing measures which means anyone with over 50 birds should have their birds housed rather than running free. Our gulls have covering so they are protected as much as possible from overhead birds.
Winter is the most common time for bird flu to occur as birds are migrating from colder areas to warmer ones for the winter.
Seabirds are particularly vulnerable to bird flu, so you may see some birds affected whilst you are out on your walks.
Some of the symptoms include:
swollen head, closed and runny eyes, breathing difficulties such as gaping (mouth breathing), nasal snicking (coughing sound), sneezing, gurgling or rattling
lethargy and depression, lying down and unresponsiveness
lack of coordination, twisting of the head and neck, head and body shaking, dragging of legs, lethargy.
If you see a sick bird with any of these symptoms or it looks ‘sick’, we would recommend not touching it. It is unusual for bird flu to pass to humans, but it is possible and moving a bird from one place to another could mean that you are moving bird flu to a new area not previously affected.
Thank you for caring about our wildlife 
