Bird keeper registration

If you register on our Poultry Register we can easily contact you in the event of an outbreak in the Bury borough.

To help us manage any confirmed outbreak in Bury, we ask all bird keepers to also register their birds with us by providing the following information:

• your name, address, email and telephone number
• the location where your birds are kept, for example; rear garden, allotment or other address
• details of birds you keep, such as their species and how many
• the reason you keep the birds, for example; as a hobby, as pets, for showing, breeding or rearing, egg production or meat production.

Bird flu is also known as avian influenza and you must follow government advice and guidance to keep your birds safe and well.

The risk of the bird flu virus impacting human health is very low and food standards bodies advise that avian influenzas pose a very low food safety risk for UK consumers. If you are concerned, you can call NHS 111 or speak to your GP.

For the latest government advice please visit avian influenza on GOV.UK.

It is a legal requirement for all bird keepers to follow strict biosecurity and hygiene standards.

All bird keepers must:

• minimise movement of people in and out of bird enclosures
• clean and disinfect footwear using a government approved disinfectant, and keep areas where birds live clean and tidy, see gov.uk - Defra approved disinfectant when and how to use it
• ensure the areas where birds are kept are not attractive to wild birds, for example, by netting ponds and by removing access to food sources
• keep your birds separate to and without access to areas where especially geese, ducks and gulls are present
• feed and water your birds in enclosed areas to discourage wild birds
• keep a close watch on birds for any signs of disease and report any sick birds or unexplained deaths to your vet or APHA
• wear clean footwear and clothing when you enter bird housing. If you have more than one bird house, you must have dedicated clothing or overalls for each house
• access bird housing in clean footwear, you must do one of the following:
  • use a disinfectant foot dip before you enter and when you step out of bird housing using a Defra-approved disinfectant – this should be at least ankle deep and under cover so it’s not diluted by rain or exposed to UV light
  • use dedicated footwear which stays inside the bird housing – leave your general footwear outside
• not walk on ground outside the bird housing in your disinfected or dedicated footwear
• wear clean footwear and clothing when you enter bird housing.
• have dedicated clothing or overalls for each house, if you have more than one bird house
• always check the health of new birds, before you bring them to your property
• keep new birds separate from the rest of the flock. Talk to your vet about this and agree a monitoring programme
• put new birds in housing that has been cleaned and disinfected
• use separate equipment when you handle new birds or isolated flocks
• if possible, have different people to handle new birds. If this is not possible, handle the new birds last
• change into clean clothes and footwear when you go between new birds and your existing flock

If you suspect a case of bird flu in poultry or captive birds, you should report this immediately using the Defra Rural Services Helpline 0300 0200 301. Failure to report is an offence as bird flu is a notifiable disease.

 If you find dead or visibly unwell wild swans, geese, ducks, birds of prey or other dead wild birds, you must not touch it or pick it up. You should report it to the Defra Helpline 0345 933 5577.

The APHA might collect some of these birds to test them for avian influenza to help understand how the disease is distributed geographically and in different types of bird. Not all birds will be collected.

Information about biosecurity and hygiene standards to keep birds safe from bird flu (avian influenza) is available at gov.uk.

• Gov.uk - Bird-flu