Despite the ongoing threat of bird flu, many homesteaders consider poultry a great place to start when raising your own livestock. There’s many things to love – poultry require less space than most other livestock, they can produce both eggs and meat, and they’re often allowed in residences where larger animals like cows or pigs couldn’t be kept. Even so, starting a journey in keeping poultry can be overwhelming – there’s a lot to learn, and some breeds have easier requirements than others. Here’s what you need to know if you’re looking to take flight into the world of poultry for the first time. 

Chickens

Chickens are likely the bird that first comes to mind when you consider domestic poultry. Often hardy and easy to care for, many chicken breeds make a perfect ‘beginner’ bird whether you’re interested in raising birds for meat, eggs or both. 

Chickens don’t have excessively large space requirements, making a small to medium-sized flock (think five to fifteen birds) perfect for beginners. Ideally, for the health and mental stimulation of the birds, outdoor runs should be provided; while chickens may not come to mind when you think of animal intelligence, multiple studies have shown that these birds do benefit from the ability to perform natural behaviors outdoors. “What you put into your animals – from clean stalls, fresh grown pastures, to clean food and attention makes the flavor better,” says Kate Osgood, who runs Birch Rise Farm, in New Hampshire, raising chickens and turkeys. 

For those who are new to keeping poultry, you may benefit from purchasing adult birds to start out your flock as raising chicks can make things more complicated. “Chicks may be very cheap to purchase, however they need more attention than sheep, cows or pigs. They are fragile and more susceptible to predators, says Osgood.” 

While there are hundreds of breeds of chickens, including rare and heritage breeds composed of only a few hundred individual birds, we’ve put together three hardy, easy to keep breeds perfect for any newcomer to chickens. 

RHODE ISLAND REDS

The Rhode Island Red is a handsome, easily recognizable chicken, with overall deep red-brown coloring and bright red combs. Originating from Rhode Island & Massachussetts in the 1840s, this breed has stuck around for so long for good reason (they’re also Rhode Island’s state bird!). This dual-purpose breed can be raised for both meat and eggs, with hens  laying up to 300 eggs in a year. This hardy breed has a lifespan of  five to eight years, so with proper care, your RIRs will be around for the long haul. This breed is known to thrive even in cold environments other chickens don’t fare well in, making them a good choice for farmers who face cold winters.

ORPINGTONS

The Orpington is a beloved breed originating from nineteenth-century Britain; they’re most commonly seen as the Buff Orpington, but they’re also found in blue, black, and white. While their egg production is lesser than Rhode Island Reds – about 160 per hen per year – their calm temperament makes them great for beginner owners, and reduces the chances of infighting in the flock. 

AUSTRALORPS

Australorps are beautiful sleek black birds with pinkish-red combs, and they’re treasured by many chicken enthusiasts. (Outside of the U.S., they’re available in other colors, too.) Most Australorp hens lay over 250 eggs a year, making them an excellent choice as a dual-purpose breed. They are popular as a 4H breed due to their notoriously sweet, docile temperament; even roosters are typically agreeable. Due to their black color, it’s easy for them to overheat in summertime, so be sure birds spending time outdoors have ample shade. 

Turkeys

Beloved as a Thanksgiving meal, the turkey is a somewhat more challenging bird to keep than the more common backyard chicken. Turkeys have higher space requirements than smaller poultry; generally,  six to 10 feet per bird is recommended, and it’s always better to aim for more space rather than meeting the minimum. 

Although some farmers have success with mixed flocks, it’s important to note that generally, turkeys and chickens are best kept seperately. Turkeys are easily susceptible to a potentially fatal disease – histomoniasis, also known as ‘blackhead’, which chickens can carry without showing symptoms. Additionally, male turkeys are often aggressive towards smaller birds, making mixed flocks of chickens and turkeys ideal only for experienced poultry keepers. There are many beautiful breeds to choose from,  but we picked out the best for beginners. 

BOURBON REDS

The Bourbon Red is an iconic heritage breed known for their beautiful coloration; overall reddish-brown coloration complimented with white flight and  tail feathers. They’re known for heavy breasts and flavorful, rich meat. The standard weights for Bourbon Reds are 23 pounds for young toms, and 14 pounds for young hens. They have the ability to mate naturally, which some newer breeds do not; this can make producing future generations for your farm that much easier. While toms are often aggressive with each other, the birds are typically sociable and docile with humans. These birds are also active foragers, and thrive with ample outdoor space to explore. 

BROAD-BREASTED WHITES

The Broad-Breasted White is the most popular commercial breed in the world; extensive selective breeding for their characteristic large breasts has rendered many of them unable to breed without artificial insemination, which can present a challenge for some farmers. This breed develops to adult size very quickly, which some argue can lead to less pleasing flavor; nonetheless, they remain a popular and easy to raise breed. These birds often mature to more than 40 pounds, making them a great choice to market for large Thanksgiving dinners. Sadly, even with proper care, these birds often have short lives due to health issues associated with obesity; however, as they’re used for meat production, they are typically slaughtered prior to any health issues becoming bothersome. 

ROYAL PALMS

The Royal Palm is a gorgeous turkey breed, even if you don’t find turkeys to be particularly pleasing to look at; their stark white coloration contrasting with the black edging on their feathers makes for an eye-catching bird. While they’re slow-growing in comparison to breeds like the Broad-Breasted White, their hardiness, foraging ability, and good temperaments make them a great choice for small-scale farms. Royal Palms’ standard weights are 16 pounds for young toms, and 10 pounds for young hens. They’re excellent as an exhibition bird in addition to being raised for meat. 

Ducks

As you might expect, keeping ducks (or any waterfowl) is often more complex than keeping other poultry. Although ducks only fundamentally need enough water to drink from and wash their faces in, it’s no surprise that ducks are happiest and healthiest when they have adequate water – a pond, or even a pool – to swim and splash in. Each duck needs about four feet of space inside their coop or enclosure; ideally, they should have 10 to20 feet of outdoor space to explore (to protect birds from predators, any poultry should be in securely fenced outdoor areas or supervised when outdoors). 

Ducks are often friendly and charming, and can be used for meat production, egg production, or both. They’re an especially great choice if you plan to open your farm to visitors – you may receive additional profits from guests who wish to feed them! Some are content with keeping domesticated versions of Mallards, while some prefer unique-looking breeds like Indian Runners, who stand upright, or Cresteds, who have an eye-catching ‘puff’ adorning their head. While there’s many good ducks to choose from, the three breeds we’ve selected are likely to give you the easiest start with raising ducks on your own.

MUSCOVY

Despite their goofy looks, due to the large caruncles above their bills, Muscovy ducks are treasured by many as a hardy – and very unique – duck. Some raise them as dual-purpose birds for meat and eggs, but they’re also wonderful at pest control, and they’ll chase off intruders much like Canada geese in any public space. They love to free-range and forage, and this ‘wild’ diet will improve the flavor of their large eggs. They’re defensive of their homestead, but typically loving and easygoing with human caretakers they’re familiar with. These ducks typically live seven to eight  years with proper care, although they have been known to live for a decade or more. 

PEKIN

The Pekin duck is typically raised for meat, but you’ve likely seen this iconic breed – all-white with an orange bill and legs – in petting zoos or at public parks. They’re also the most popular commercial duck breed in America. Their easygoing temperaments make them great for those new to raising ducks, and they’re also a popular choice for 4H or young poultry enthusiasts. They’re especially happy with a decently sized pond to spend time wading in. They typically live for  eight to12 years, making them long-lived in comparison to many other popular breeds. They grow fast and are overall hardy, but are prone to obesity, so be sure to watch what they eat and encourage foraging for natural food sources. 

KHAKI CAMPBELL

The Khaki Campbell, also known as the Campbell, is a British breed of domestic duck named for their distinct khaki-colored plumage. They’re lightweight birds that weigh about five pounds at maturity. That’s no problem – this breed is typically raised for egg production, not meat. Khaki Campbell hens are prolific layers, averaging anywhere from 250 to 340 eggs per year.  They’re energetic, curious birds who love to forage and spend time in the water, so any prospective owners should ensure they have adequate outdoor space & activities to keep these ducks stimulated. They’re typically hardy, adaptable birds that can deal with hot or cold temperatures as long as they’re provided with good care and plenty of shelter. 

Quail

Quail may not be the first bird that comes to mind when you consider raising poultry – but they can be an excellent choice for beginners without much space. Some folks even successfully keep quails wholly indoors, and while you might need to make a lot of lifestyle changes to have that work for your household, these small, quirky birds can make keeping poultry a breeze if you have a small space to work with. Quail need a minimum of one square foot per bird, but many recommend  closer to three feet per bird for your flock’s maximum health and happiness. 

Although quail eggs are tiny, they’re beloved by some and are used as specialty ingredients in some Asian dishes. Zack Greene, co-owner of Myshire Farms in Ohio, has been raising quail full-time since 2016, and he recommends the Coturnix above all else. “We did so many extra things in the beginning, and it turns out it really is that simple,” he said of raising quail. “They just need an enclosure that is predator proof, food, water, and shelter to get out of the elements, and then collect eggs. That’s simple.” 

 These are three quail species that shouldn’t give beginners too much trouble.

BUTTON 

The tiny Button quail is so fragile that one must take caution when handling them, particularly chicks. While this might sound daunting, with caution and proper care, these birds are actually quite hardy. Even when handled from chickhood, these birds are typically cautious and flighty, making them a good choice if you’d prefer a “look but don’t touch” style to managing your flock. Sadly, even with proper care, they have fairly short lifespans; in captivity, they live between three to six years. While it’s possible to sell them for meat, their small size means that most farmers prefer to sell their eggs, which are a delicacy despite being much smaller than a typical chicken egg. 

BOBWHITE

The Bobwhite, also known as the Northern Bobwhite, is actually native to the U.S.; their popularity as a gamebird is part of what drove demand for the species in captivity, for use in releases for hunting. While they’re still most commonly raised for release onto hunting preserves, increasing numbers of quail enthusiasts are raising these intriguing little birds for their meat and eggs. It’s important to note that, due to their history of being raised as gamebirds, these birds are typically aggressive with others of their species, and avoid human touch.

COTURNIX

There’s a good reason that the adorable but hardy Coturnix quail, also known as the Japanese quail,  is popular with many. “Quail are a great way to start a self-sufficient journey,” says Greene, who solely raises Coturnix quail. “We  specialize in Coturnix, as they are bred for meat and egg production, and are domesticated and not flighty. Most other quail are seasonal layers, but Coturnix lay year round.” These dual-purpose birds are often kept as pets, as they’re more sociable and tolerant of humans than most other common quail, although they’re still jumpier and less tolerant of handling than chickens. Coturnix are a good choice for small-scale farmers looking for a punchy, unique bird who won’t take up the whole yard. 

No matter what poultry you choose, remember that baby steps may make your journey easier. Try starting with a limited flock size as opposed to the maximum amount of birds you can house on your property. If you choose a more complicated breed of poultry, that’s not necessarily setting yourself up for failure–just be sure you’ve figured out shelter, food, and care for your birds so you’re ready for a smooth ride.

The post How to Choose the Right Backyard Bird appeared first on Modern Farmer.

However, over the years, it’s become clear that malathion isn’t always safe for use, and, even if no humans are negatively impacted by it on a case-by-case basis, it’s much more likely to negatively impact unintended critters or plants, some of which might be endangered. Malathion remains on the market in the US (the United Kingdom withdrew malathion for sale in 2002 due to safety concerns), but some organizations are pushing back, citing the pesticide’s murky history and evidence that malathion isn’t as safe as you might want to believe.

On September 9, 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity, an organization dedicated to protecting endangered species from human impact, sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for “failing to adequately protect more than 1,500 species of wildlife and plants from the insecticide malathion—in violation of the Endangered Species Act.” This came after years of back-and-forth on malathion’s safety. 

In 2017, scientists within the USFWS found that a single exposure to malathion “could be catastrophic” and that repeated use of the insecticide could eliminate entire populations of endangered species in particular areas. However, their findings went nowhere after that scientific determination was reversed by then-Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, which delayed the finalization of the biological opinion by five years. 

Fast forward to 2022, and the USFWS changed its tone: This time, it finalized its biological opinion on malathion and concluded that the pesticide does not pose an extinction risk to a single protected species of wildlife or plant in the United States. There’s very little to explain why such a drastic difference in findings would occur over such a short timespan. 

Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director for the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), says that, despite the shift from the USFWS, the CBD remains steadfast that malathion is harmful. “Malathion belongs to an old class of pesticides called organophosphates. Organophosphates are potent neurotoxins associated with a suite of risks to human health, including death,” says Burd. “Farmworkers suffer disproportionate exposure to pesticides, including malathion. But others can also suffer substantial exposures, including people who spray malathion for landscaping, golf courses and mosquito control; people who live in areas where malathion is frequently used for mosquito control, and workers in factories where malathion is produced.” 

A glance back in time through malathion incident reports finds concerning stories from the 1980s and ’90s. In California, malathion was the third most common cause of pesticide-related illness from 1981 to 1985, especially among applicators exposed during indoor application, usually due to inhalation of fumes. Malathion is second on the list of active ingredients thought to be responsible for the largest number of acute occupational pesticide-related illnesses, using 1999 data. One incident report recounts the time a young girl ran across a lawn five hours after the application of malathion; she was left with blisters on her feet for months afterwards. Another incident from 1995 finds that a worker installing a door was exposed to malathion sprayed by the property owner; he was hospitalized for days with dysarthria, nausea, and vomiting. 

In fairness, malathion is generally safe enough for humans—usually. Malathion is of low toxicity to humans, but absorption or ingestion into the human body metabolizes malathion into malaoxon, which is substantially more dangerous. Symptoms of malaoxon toxicity can onset within minutes to hours after exposure, and can result in minor concerns such as allergic reactions or skin rashes to nervous system impacts, seizures, loss of consciousness, and even death. Even low levels of exposure can lead to these effects.  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends that workers not be exposed to more than 10 mg/m³ of malathion for a 10-hour workday, 40 hours per workweek. NIOSH also recommends that a level of 250 mg/m³ of malathion in the air be considered as immediately dangerous to life and health.

How can one stay protected from potential malathion toxicity? It’s important to use protective equipment when applying malathion, including gloves, rubber boots, a mask covering the nose and mouth, and eyewear. Even when wearing gloves, it’s important to thoroughly wash your hands afterwards. Windows should stay closed to prevent vapors from entering your house. Similarly, remember that anything you spray has the potential to cause harm; remove pet bowls, children’s toys, or anything else that might unknowingly harbor malathion. However, it’s important to consider others when choosing your pesticide; if you are unable to limit the exposure of others, such as neighborhood kids or dogwalkers, you may want to reconsider using a pesticide believed by many, and evidenced by many incident reports, to cause serious harm.

Malathion is, like most other insecticides, indiscriminate in who it kills; that means that endangered species that come in contact with it are likely to die. These species include the Karner blue butterfly, rusty-patched bumble bee, Indiana bat, northern long-eared bat, American burying beetle, lesser prairie-chicken, and many plant species. Bat species may actually be at an increased risk, as they may feed on mosquitoes sprayed with malathion before they succumb. Similarly, feral cats, or outdoor cats and dogs, might interact with objects sprayed by malathion, or eat insects or small animals that are contaminated. 

The government’s reply to the lawsuit is due by the end of January, and the incoming Trump administration could be a factor in how it proceeds. “The election could certainly lead to changes in how the government chooses to defend itself in the case, but we still feel confident in the strength of our claims,” says Burd. 

“The Fish and Wildlife Service submitted to the pesticide industry’s demands and hung more than 1,500 endangered species out to dry by failing to rein in malathion use in their habitats,” said Burd in a release regarding the CBD lawsuit. “Today, these animals and plants continue to be harmed by one of the worst neurotoxic pesticides on the market, which can be sprayed in the last few homes of some of our most imperiled species. That includes nearly every endangered butterfly, beetle and dragonfly we have. We just can’t let this go on.” 

The post Why One Group is Suing the Government Over Malathion, a Dangerous Pesticide appeared first on Modern Farmer.

Americans crave salmon; the salmon industry is valued at over $14 billion, and even in less-than-ideal economic scenarios, families are willing to fork over the approximate $13 to $23 per pound for this pricey but versatile fish. With consumption rates of salmon rising, the industry is growing volatile as it becomes clear that both wild-caught and farmed salmon cause environmental and economic issues. 

Salmon have been historically overfished, and they are now endangered in many of the rivers they used to flood during their annual migration. NOAA Fisheries determined in 2018 that five Pacific salmon stocks are now “overfished” and one stock is “subject to overfishing,” including Chinook and coho salmon. 

In light of the environmental dangers of wild salmon, farmed salmon may sound like an ideal solution; propagating salmon to be eaten without being removed from the wild should both help populations and consumers, right? Sadly, farmed salmon is rarely ever environmentally neutral. In fact, the industry is incredibly destructive to wild marine life, even in well-managed operations. Organizations such as Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch have even noted that wild-caught salmon managed in a responsible way (the population is healthy, and the fishery has little or no impact on other marine life) is almost always a lesser environmental impact than farmed salmon.

In the US, all Atlantic salmon for sale are farmed fish, with no commercial fishing allowed for this species due to the dramatic drop in population size these salmon faced after previous overfishing. Unfortunately, farmed salmon are often a threat to wild salmon. But farmed salmon, kept in large nets in waterways, are prone to escaping—and when they escape, they’re more than ready to enjoy their limited lifespans and interbreed with their wild counterparts, negatively impacting the genetic composition and fitness of native salmon populations, and sometimes introducing diseases for which wild salmon aren’t prepared. Most farmed salmon in the US are produced in marine net pens intended to contain the salmon while utilizing natural waterflow; these systems inherently impact the environment. Even if no salmon were to escape, farmed salmon pollute the waters they inhabit with waste and chemicals used to combat disease and parasites. 

What’s a salmon lover to do? Today’s shoppers are looking for new sources of salmon that won’t leave them feeling guilty when they clear their plates.

One of the rising solutions to the salmon dilemma is plant-based alternatives. Oshi is an up-and-coming brand of plant-based salmon, primarily made from soy and mycelium (a fungus usually found in blue cheese or salami).

Oshi’s salmon isn’t indistinguishable from real salmon, but its texture is very close, and it maintains a mild salmony flavor that blends into traditional salmon dishes. More importantly, Oshi’s salmon provides an option without the guilt of farmed salmon’s environmental harm. “Commercial fishing is a leading cause of overfishing, which threatens the biodiversity of our oceans, while fish farming often leads to pollution and habitat destruction,” says Ofek Ron, a representative of Oshi. “For those concerned about environmental impact, choosing plant-based salmon helps support efforts to reduce overfishing and protect marine ecosystems.” Currently, Oshi’s products are only available in local retailers around Seattle and farmer’s markets, but it has plans to expand the brand to retailers nationwide. 

And, of course, there’s the most technologically advanced option for salmon lovers: lab-grown, cell-cultivated salmon. First, isolated cells are taken from juvenile Pacific salmon—a step that only needs to be completed once per species. Then, these cells are grown in large steel tanks resembling those found in breweries and fed proteins, fats, salts and minerals to help them grow. These authentic salmon cells are harvested and combined with several plant-based ingredients in order to lend them the flavor, texture and appearance of a traditional salmon filet. “While this method of making seafood may seem new, our technology would look familiar to anyone who’s visited a microbrewery,” says Justin Kolbeck, CEO of Wildtype, which produces cell-cultivated salmon. “We built our fishery in a former brewery that unfortunately didn’t make it through the pandemic. We repurposed and upgraded much of the equipment from the brewery including some mixing tanks, as well as the cooling and cleaning systems.” 

Kolbeck notes that while Wildtype isn’t yet a perfect replica of a wild-caught salmon filet, it is continually improving, and the current product is quite nutritious. “We designed our salmon to provide the same level of omega-3 fats as the most pristine wild salmon,” says Kolbeck. “We’ve learned that consumers are increasingly concerned about their exposure to toxins through the food they consume. We can offer a nutritious and delicious seafood option without the associated risk of exposure to high levels of these contaminants.” 

At the global level, fish consumption is projected to increase by 14.8 percent by 2030. It’s not clear how an already stretched-thin aquaculture industry will rise to meet these demands, particularly with more public pushback on environmental damage. However, in a world already struggling with global food insecurity, overfishing, and the uncertainty of climate change, continuing “the way things have always been” simply isn’t going to work. We shouldn’t expect either farmed or wild-caught salmon to go anywhere anytime soon. As the most widespread and economically friendly options, they will still be the first choice for most consumers. But we can expect to see new options make their way into consumer’s fridges and onto menus—and our oceans will certainly be better for it. 

The post Farmed, Wild, Lab Grown, or Plant-Based: Which Salmon is Best? appeared first on Modern Farmer.

Enter the alternative choices to traditional proteins. There are soy proteins and seafood, whey powders and Impossible meat. There is the decision to just go vegan or vegetarian as a potential solution. A single person exchanging eating meat for a vegan diet reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5 tons per year. If every American were to cut out one serving of chicken per week from their diet, it would save the same amount of CO2 emissions as taking 500,000 cars off the road. Despite these numbers, there’s a big problem: Americans don’t want to give up meat.

So, what is the solution here? It could be slithering just under our noses: snakes.

As far as food and protein conversion ratios, pythons outperformed all mainstream agricultural species studied to date. They’re incredibly tolerant of a variety of less-than-ideal situations: During the study, some pythons were fasted for over four months; while they lost weight during this time, they recuperated quickly after resuming feeding. They’re also tolerant of heat and drought, ideal qualities on a warming planet.

Few Americans go out of their way to eat snakes, but in the face of a climate crisis and growing worries about global food insecurity, more are opening their minds. Snake farming is common in some Asian countries, such as China and Thailand, and certain snakes are considered a delicacy (often, python species, due to their quick-growing nature). Because snakes as food are much more normalized there than they are in the US, there’s no hesitation about serving up python. Granted, reptile meat isn’t too different from chicken—it’s frequently compared to poultry in taste, and it’s also high in protein and low in saturated fats, although it’s sometimes oilier than other meats. Snake farmers benefit from low costs of operation and high production value. But would their systems translate well if there was a demand for snake meat globally?

A study published in Nature seems to find few faults in wide-scale snake meat farming projects. The researchers’ proposal covered two snake species commonly farmed in Asia—the reticulated python and the Burmese python—among multiple farms in Thailand and Vietnam. These two species are viewed as ideal for agriculture; these two grow fast, reproduce quickly, and are hardy, making them good candidates for large-scale farming. 

However, pythons aren’t perfect. There’s one glaring issue with pythons as a farmed food: Pythons are carnivorous, and they usually feed on captive-bred rodents when kept as pets. According to the researchers in this study, the pythons in Thailand were often fed wild-caught rodents, but they also accepted “waste” protein (food scraps not usable for human consumption) from fish, pork, and chicken. Some farmers combined waste protein to make sausage-like diets for snakes. Snakes who ate them did well, but convincing them to give sausages a try instead of their ideal food, a live rat, was another matter. It’s not clear if it’s logistically possible to transfer farmed snakes solely to a waste protein diet—or how sustainable such a diet would be in the long run.

“The cost of food is going to be the biggest hurdle,” says Grant Milbury, the resident “Morph God” (in reference to snake color morphs) at New England Reptile Distributors. Milbury lives and breathes snakes. While he’s OKwith people eating them, too, he’s not sure it’s a good idea to farm snakes. He says farming a species that loves to eat rodents might not end up being cheap, which could turn away potential corporate investors. “I believe that pythons can handle much harsher conditions than typical livestock, although people seem to treat all reptiles poorly.” Milbury says that, for pythosn to be widely accepted (and ethically farmed) in the US, there would need to be vast regulation alongside public education. “Even then, getting people to enjoy a python filet might be a hard sell.”

It’s also possible that trying to introduce snakes to widespread agriculture could quickly backfire concerning animal welfare. While some believe that snake farming could be easier to perform ethically than most current livestock farming, it’s important to remember that most peoples’ opinions of snakes are, well, lower than those of cows and chickens. If given the opportunity, it’s possible that large-scale agricultural operations could treat farmed snakes poorly with few repercussions.

In America, we might not have to look far to find python to eat. The Burmese python isn’t only farmed for food, it’s a popular pet species that’s now been banned from Florida due to their status as an invasive species. Florida holds annual python-hunting contests in an effort to curb the population growth and prevent the loss of native species to the hungry snakes (which can grow over 16 feet in length). Most of these pythons are wasted instead of being used for food, but increasing demand for snake meat might motivate more people to try python (and work harder on eradicating them from Florida’s precarious ecosystem). 

Avery Briar, who owns a pet ball python (another species sometimes found roaming the wilds of Florida, although less common than the Burmese), loves snakes, but agrees that sometimes eradication of invasives is the only way to go. “Dealing with invasive species is always an ethical challenge, and it’s very easy for something that’s supposed to provide a fix to go wrong and have unintentional ecological consequences,” he says. Briar’s not wrong: Cane toads, rabbits, and even cats are just a few species intentionally introduced to areas they weren’t originally from, and there’s few cases without significant ecological harm. But there’s also hope found in trying new things like python meat. “I think that if any sort of python meat is going to make it into more mainstream acceptance, this is what would have the best chance.” 

America may not be ready to embrace an overhaul of our meat industry, even if the growing pressure to curb climate change demands it. But for those who aren’t shy of trying snake, more demand is a good thing. Florida could use fewer pythons, and the US could use some more sustainable sources of meat.

The post Sneaking Snake Onto the Menu appeared first on Modern Farmer.

But the fight with bird flu isn’t over yet, and we may come out on the other side with healthier birds (and new menu options).

Rats with wings

The humble pigeon, thought by many to be a pest, has much to offer us in this fight against bird flu. Pigeons were once revered as war heroes, used to carry messages during the world wars; the Dickin Medal, the highest possible decoration for valor in animals, has been given to 32 pigeons, beginning with Winkie the pigeon in 1942. Before that, we used pigeons for meat and eggs, and squab (juvenile pigeons) remain a delicacy in much of the world. Texts from Spain regarding raising pigeons for their meat date back as far as 60 A.D. 

But today, it’s the pigeons’ DNA that can help us. Pigeons have high numbers of interferon-stimulated genes (which signal to infected cells when a pathogen is present), giving them what researchers hypothesize is an inherent ability to prevent viruses from entering their cells and spreading. After being exposed to bird flu in a lab environment, pigeons showed a low immune response and had low levels of the virus in their bodies. In comparison, chickens and turkeys with the same exposure had high levels of the virus concentrated in their organs, particularly in the brain. 

Further studies have shown pigeons to be resistant and/or minimally susceptible to the virus. One hundred rock pigeons were tested for the virus during the 2022 outbreak; only two were positive. However, their deaths were not attributed to the virus.

Obviously, the poultry industry’s showing no signs of restructuring to push pigeon quesadillas or pigeon tenders as your weeknight dinner. Despite pigeons’ benefits in bird flu resistance, much of our industry is focused around the more traditional chicken and turkey. But for those in favor of pigeon, they claim to reap the benefits. 

Squab Producers of California, founded in 1943, is the largest squab producer in the US, producing more than 400,000 squab yearly. Although SPOC owns a commercial processing plant, the squab are raised in more than 600 different local farms that work together as a co-op, so that the birds don’t have to face the traditional factory farming environment.

The federation’s president, Dalton Rasmussen, notes that the birds produce better when they’re happier—so they try to give each bird a short but sweet life. The birds processed by SPOC spend their short time in small, locally owned farms, often with outdoor flight pens that allow older breeder birds a taste of the good life. “It’s one of the tastiest, tenderest meats that you can get,” says Rasmussen. “It used to be known as the meat of kings, because it was served to royalty all the way back to the Egyptian days.”

Prices for conventional chicken and turkey meat, as well as eggs, have suffered through the bird flu epidemic. In addition, fear associated with the virus has dampened consumers’ enthusiasm for poultry dinners. Tyson, one of the largest poultry producers in the US, reported slipping sales through 2023, leading to the closure of four of its plants. US poultry sales overall declined by 13 percent between 2022 and 2023. It’s hard to say whether it’s impacted squab farmers, with so few commercial farmers to reference, but, so far, there has yet to be a bird flu breakout at any US pigeon farming facility. In an uncertain time of H5N1, we may see more consumers trying pigeon. And with many neighborhoods restricting chicken ownership, maybe we’ll see backyard pigeon roosts gaining in popularity, too.

We can’t change Bird Flu. Can we change chickens?

There are some possible pigeon-less solutions in the works, such as gene editing. However, it’s a tricky business, and it rarely has a guaranteed payoff. 

Scout Thompson, a PhD student in biology at Western University, says the technology might not yet be sophisticated enough to prevent the spread of avian flu. “Even if [gene editing] could successfully eradicate the current strains of concern in domestic flocks, the virus could still persist in wild waterfowl and be reintroduced with mutations.” 

And, with the current state of bird flu infections, that possibility doesn’t seem unlikely. Many different species of waterfowl have already fallen victim, and experts are concerned that migratory patterns of waterfowl may cause seasonal surges in infection. Researchers have begun making progress with the CRISPR gene-editing technique, but we simply don’t yet know if this could result in long-term progress for the battle against H5N1. 

Betting on biosecurity

Vaccines are always an option, but it’s not always possible to mass-vaccinate poultry on the scale that would be required on a factory farm; after a positive test, just one major poultry farm in Texas was forced to cull close to two million chickens. 

But for smaller flocks, vaccines can be a source of hope. “I think we should make it easier for very small flocks to purchase vaccinations, medications and other treatments for their birds,” says Saro Nortrup, an urban flock owner in Nebraska. “Most of these, such as [medication for] Marek’s disease, are very expensive with large dosage options and a very limited shelf life.” 

According to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, all of the UK’s native breeds of chickens, ducks and geese are under threat from bird flu. While bird flu losses that make the news typically number in the millions, Nortrup noted that any bird’s death can cause a cascade of damage. “If you have a rare breed, for example, the loss of your flock could have a serious impact on the genetic pool of an entire breed.”

Many American producers grew frustrated as it seemed to be an endless wait for bird flu vaccinations that weren’t coming; even now, many farms don’t have access to preventative vaccines. However, renewed interest has led to new developments and increased accessibility for these vaccines; scientists are working on a vaccine for humans, in the case of a potential pandemic if bird flu begins inter-human transmission.

We don’t have all the answers to bird flu yet. But, with so many partial solutions in the works, we’ll find a way to push forward—even if the poultry industry is never quite the same.

Correction: A previous version of this article referred to HPAI as H1N1. That has been corrected to H5N1. 

The post Rats With Wings, Vaccines, And New Breed—2024’s Solutions to the Bird Flu Crisis appeared first on Modern Farmer.

I’ve worked with birds in many different settings, which allowed me access to many different species. For the exotic birds, it ranged from rescued wild-caught African Greys who wanted nothing to do with me to aviaries full of friendly budgies and cockatiels clamoring for a little one-on-one affection. For domestic birds, such as poultry, I worked with total “mutt” chickens to Bourbon Red Turkeys to the coveted Ayam Cemani, a breed of chicken that is fully jet-black, inside and out. (No, I didn’t crack any open to check.) Aside from my own pet birds, I worked on a farm where I raised chickens, ducks, and turkeys, and I volunteered for years at an avian sanctuary primarily for exotic birds like parrots. Some of the exotics I’d worked with were abused, while some were treated like royalty. With the domestics, there was one sad consistency—nobody seemed willing to care about the birds as individuals, and some barely saw them as living creatures whatsoever.

Birds are some of our most underappreciated species. Despite America’s love for birding and bird feeding (it’s estimated that the US alone had over $3 million in sales of bird food and supplies through 2023), we often underestimate their importance both to humanity and to the natural world. In the wild, birds are often keystone species (animals that have a disproportionately large impact on their surrounding environments). By spreading seeds, controlling insect populations and providing prey for larger birds and mammals, birds contribute to their ecosystems. In addition, their sensitive nature means that decreases in bird populations can often be a warning sign for impending danger to other species.

Sometimes, it seems problems the agricultural industry faces could have been avoided by simply looking ahead. Bird flu is one such circumstance that has many gritting their teeth—especially the researchers who sounded the alarm in 2022, when the same strain of bird flu that devastated farmers in 2015 re-emerged. Now, in 2024, we’re still deep in the throes of a bird flu pandemic (so far, mostly contained to animals)—and we have no signs that infections will slow. From January 2022 to June 2024, the USDA found 96.5 million infected birds—and there’s more to come. With so many years of research, loss of animals and stress to the public, one might expect that we would be closer to solving the bird flu crisis, but we’re lagging on actionable answers.

A problem of our own making

Sadly, as it stands today, bird flu isn’t being handled humanely, which should be our bare minimum for epidemics like this. A common method is ventilation shutdown, which is exactly what it sounds like. The ventilation of an enclosure is shut off until the birds die “naturally.” Ventilation shutdown plus (VSD+) is a method where ventilation shutdown is combined with additional heat or gas in attempts to make the process more efficient; there’s no doubt that the birds subjected to this method still suffer excruciatingly. 

According to Ben Williamson, director of Compassion in World Farming, the leading methods of euthanasia for infected birds is “ventilation shutdown, which involves killing birds by an excruciating combination of asphyxiation and heatstroke, is inhumane, contrary to WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health) standards and should be banned.”

According to the Animal Welfare Institute, about 77 percent of birds infected with bird flu, or 44.9 million birds, were killed via ventilation shutdown from February 2022 to March 2023. In these situations, the WOAH recommends the use of inert gasses, such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide, to be pumped into enclosures, which is a more humane method of slaughter. 

AWI’s analysis of USDA records indicates that operations with large flocks (at least 100,000 birds) were much more likely to employ VSD+ as a mass-killing method. Even with the widespread use of VSD+ in such situations, however, the USDA’s depopulation timeline was not met in a majority of cases. Of the 37 large flock depopulation events that involved VSD+ during a 16-month timespan between 2022 and 2023, nearly two-thirds took at least three days to complete. That’s far from a humane end for birds who were already potentially infected and suffering. In the most extreme cases, in which at least one million birds were involved, depopulation took more than two weeks. 

The USDA has requested that organizations only deploy VSD+ as a last-resort method of culling—and yet, in cases of such large populations of birds, humane options are rarely efficient, and so they are ignored. In addition, turning the ventilation off within a farm is essentially a free method of euthanasia, even if it’s slow and painful. More humane methods are associated with costs for which farms might not want to foot the bill. Chickens are already one of the least protected species when it comes to slaughter. They are exempt from the Humane Methods Of Slaughter Act, largely due to industry lobbying, and are instead given a provision in the 2005 Treatment of Live Poultry Before Slaughter notice by the USDA that they should be handled and slaughtered in a way that “is consistent with good commercial practices.” What this means, however, is not clearly defined. 

No easy way forward

Despite factory farms supplying the majority of the world’s poultry supply, growing concerns are also mounting over their inability to efficiently manage or stop the spread of disease. As of 2017, the most recent year for which data is available, there were 164,099 registered poultry farms in the US, and the majority of them are factory farms.  According to analysis by the Sentience Institute, 99.9 percent of America’s broiler chickens live on factory farms, only slightly higher than 99.8 percent of America’s turkeys. 

“Factory farms create the ideal conditions for the spread of the disease, as they give viruses a constant supply of genetically similar hosts in close proximity to each other—allowing infections to spread rapidly—and for highly harmful new strains to emerge,” says Williamson. “Most worrying of all, keeping large numbers of immune-suppressed birds in close proximity also increases the risk of viruses mutating, perhaps with the risk of evolving into new more pathogenic strains, which can then multiply and spread.” Not only are factory farms a breeding ground for diseases, but stress suppresses the immune system in poultry, and there’s data showing that poultry in factory farms are indeed stressed. Many environmental factors that we’d find unpleasant—heat, crowding, light, noise—all negatively impact chickens, too.  

“When a farm has hundreds of thousands of birds per shed (or tens of thousands of birds per shed in some cage-free systems), rapid disease spread is unavoidable. What’s more, on a policy level, the government and farms are not treating these outbreaks as something that can be mitigated within a farm—if disease is detected, the entire flock is killed,” says karol orzechowski, from Faunalytics, an organization that collects data and research to improve animal welfare. “In this framework, mitigating disease within a farm becomes a moot point.” While there is no cure for HPAI in chickens, there’s no efficient way to test large flocks, meaning uninfected birds are culled along with their infected shedmates. 

There’s no easy answer here. There are plenty of expedient ways to cull chickens without prolonged suffering—cervical dislocation by hand, throat slitting, individualized gassing—that produce much less suffering. But these methods take additional time and money, leading many corporations to opt for the easier method, regardless of  the torment the animals endure.

The Better Chicken Initiative, headed by Compassion in World Farming USA, is a program intended to improve the lives of chickens in factory farms, as well as breed healthier chickens that produce better-quality meat for consumers. Launched in 2014, the organization estimates that with corporate partnerships through the program, the conditions and lives for over 100 million chickens have been improved. Meanwhile, some farms are taking matters into their own hands, such as Kipster, a Dutch egg farm (that has just opened its first US location), prioritizing humane conditions and carbon-neutral farming. 

Whether or not we’re ready to accept it, there’s probably one answer that’s far more humane than any proposed alternatives to bird flu—restructuring not only how factory farms operate but how we treat farmed poultry. Until we have conditions for farmed birds that don’t actively promote the spread of illness, we’ll have to keep fighting. We may not see immediate solutions to the bird flu crisis, but strengthening our animal welfare practices now will help animals and consumers for generations to come.

The post Opinion: Bird Flu is a Problem. The Way We Deal With it is Cruel appeared first on Modern Farmer.