Commercial poultry farmers in the Netherlands will no longer have to keep their birds indoors from Tuesday. This relaxation allows the current contamination figures of bird flu, writes outgoing minister Carola Schouten (Agriculture, CDA) on Monday evening. in a letter to the House of Representatives. The confinement obligation expired last month for seven of the twenty regions, now the relaxation will also apply to the remaining regions.
The poultry house obligation came into effect in October. The reason for the measure was the discovery of bird flu in dead swans in the province of Utrecht. Because many wild waterfowl species live in groups, the disease spreads relatively quickly. To slow the spread as much as possible, chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys had to stay indoors indefinitely. Keepers of hobby birds were exempted from the rule.
In recent weeks, no bird flu was found in wild birds in the Netherlands. The infection figures are also declining in the rest of Europe, according to Schouten. In addition, animal welfare would have been included in its decision, as would the financial situation of the poultry farmers. For example, fewer free-range eggs were sold as a result of the measure.
source https://pledgetimes.com/national-poultry-house-obligation-expires-on-tuesday/
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