Producers in the region clean up, move on as bird flu continues to spread

FARGO--Local folks are cleaning up and moving on as the worst bird flu outbreak in U.S. history continues to spread.

When bird flu struck some North Dakota flocks, a local professor was called on to offer his expertise.

Shafiqur Rahman is an associate professor and researcher in North Dakota State University's department of agriculture and biosystems engineering. He's an expert in waste management, and air and water quality who has also researched turkey mortality composting.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza affected more than 100,000 turkeys and chickens on two North Dakota farms, in Dickey and LaMoure counties, as of May 22, said Dr. Beth Carlson, deputy state veterinarian.

"Making sure all the infected birds and the feed and bedding that's used in the barn is properly disposed of so that the virus is destroyed is key to making sure it's safe for those producers to restock," Carlson said.

The state Agriculture Department's Animal Health Division has been working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to dispose of infected birds. They are killed by gathering them into a small space and spraying firefighting foam, which suffocates the animals.

"It's considered to be generally about one of the most humane ways to kill large numbers of birds quickly in a disease outbreak," Carlson said.

It's also safe for the people involved and for the environment because it's primarily water and there's no concern with runoff, she said.

Diseased birds can be disposed of through burial or incineration, but Rahman said composting is recommended because many states don't have an incinerator and don't allow burial because of shallow water tables.

He said composting the birds, feed and bedding minimizes biosecurity concerns because nothing leaves the farm. Producers can use carbon sources such as manure or bedding they already have, making the disposal less costly. And at the end of proper composting, Rahman said farmers have an organic fertilizer they can use.

The compost piles are comprised of an 18-inch to 2-foot base layer of dry carbon source to absorb the dead birds' fluid and prevent runoff. The birds are placed on top of that layer and covered with another 18 inches to 2 feet of carbon source to ensure nothing is exposed and to help filter out odors.

A coarse carbon source, like sawdust, oat chips or sunflower hulls, works well to ensure a sufficient supply of oxygen. Moisture is also needed to increase the temperature.

"If we can ensure 131 degrees Fahrenheit for at least three to five days, it will kill most of the pathogen or avian influenza virus," Rahman said. "That is the key."

The temperature should rise within 48 to 72 hours. Most of the flesh will be gone within two to three weeks. The entire composting process takes three to four months or longer for complete degradation, Rahman said, before it can be used as fertilizer.

In Minnesota, as of May 18, avian flu had affected more than 7.7 million birds on 88 farms in 21 counties, including one farm in Clay County and three farms in Otter Tail County, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. All affected farms remained under quarantine and most of the affected birds had been euthanized.

Despite the outbreak, Amos Baer of Baer Poultry Co. near Lake Park, Minn., is moving forward with plans to expand his feedlot. His operation is located near Baer Brothers, where chickens tested positive for the avian flu virus last month and had to be euthanized.

"There are no more birds alive that tested positive," he said. "That operation has been depopulated and they're in compost rows right now."

Baer said they are operating under a tight biosecurity plan that restricts all non-essential employees.

"We basically allow nobody on the place," Baer said. "We're in in a quarantine zone right now and we need to get a permit to move any eggs out of the place. For that permit, we need to make sure we have birds that are negative to avian influenza."

To test the birds, they swab a representative sample of each flock and send it to a University of Minnesota lab.

Baer Poultry Co., which raises pullets (young hens), is constructing a building that will house up to 200,000 chicks. The operation now has two barns that each hold 130,000 pullets and another that houses 70,000. The new building will boast a more environmentally friendly air-drying manure system, Baer said. He expects it to go up around the first of June and hopes to populate it with chicks in August.

Although it is highly unlikely infected poultry would enter the U.S. food supply, the U.S. Department of Agriculture states proper handling and cooking poultry to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees kills the avian flu virus, just as it does other food borne illness-causing germs.