The Manitoba Egg Farmers have officially unveiled their new Learning and Research Centre at the University of Manitoba’s Glenlea Research Station. The farm group hosted a grand opening for the centre in late April. It is Canada’s first public egg research, education and training facility.

“I have been involved in this project for several years, and I am just so excited to see today happen,” said egg farmers chair Catherine Kroeker-Klassen.

Why it matters: Biosecurity usually keeps visitors away from egg production. The state-of-the-art, public-facing facility at Glenlea hopes to offer outreach and information.

The facility aims to advance research on egg production and showcase modern farm practices for the public. It features two bio-secure barns: one free-run aviary that gives hens access the entire barn area, and one with enriched housing that combines the food safety benefits of conventional production with the welfare benefits of open housing.

There are windows into each barn for the public to view as well as research space in the private section of the building for students and researchers from the University of Manitoba to do their work.

“Public access to this facility is really important,” Kroeker-Klassen said. “We want people to know where their food is coming from. They can see it; they can trust us, and they can be happy about the choices they’re making at the grocery store.”

But until this facility was built, the public was unable to access egg-laying operations. “Biosecurity is imperative for food safety and to keep hens healthy on egg farms, which means that the public has, until now, really not had access to working egg farms,” Kroeker-Klassen said.

“This building has been designed with visitors in mind. The large windows allow you to view the hens exhibiting their natural behaviours like pecking and scratching, perching and using the nest boxes to lay their eggs.”

The public cannot enter sensitive areas to avoid the spread of diseases like highly pathogenic avian influenza.

“Windows protect the hens and maintain biosecurity and staff and researchers are trained on how to prevent diseases that could harm the hens by changing their footwear, washing vehicles, wearing protective equipment and washing their hands — the same things farmers do every day on their own farms,” Kroeker-Klassen said.

The facility includes three controlled-environment research rooms, egg quality and post-mortem laboratories, meeting spaces, staff and student areas and a program delivery area.

It’s located next to the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre and the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba Discovery and Learning Complex, about 25 minutes south of Winnipeg. It is the first complete poultry build at a Canadian university in 30 years and is the only research facility with the capacity for in-depth multi-replicate studies, as well as comparison studies between the two housing systems.

Up and running

Mario Pinto, the university’s vice-president (research and international), acknowledged that much of the project’s work was done before he took up his current role in October 2022.

“Many of you have done the heavy lifting along the way,” he said. “Partners, including the Manitoba Egg Farmers, the federal and provincial governments and the University of Manitoba, have been collaborating on this project for a number of years.

“It’s very exciting to see the new facility open to the public today. It’s not often that something comes to fruition in our world, but when it does, we really should take time to celebrate.”

The facility will be “a hub for innovative agriculture research in Canada while providing highly qualified graduate students with employment opportunities in the sector,” Pinto added.

“The research conducted here will help transform data to support the sector and provide world-class opportunities for researchers and students.”

The new facility was funded in part by the governments of Canada and Manitoba through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership and in part by the 170 egg-farming families represented by Manitoba Egg Farmers.

MLA and former ag minister Ralph Eichler stood in for Manitoba’s current ag minister, Derek Johnson, at the grand opening.

“In 2021, the governments of Canada and Manitoba announced $1.5 million in funding for the MEF to establish this centre,” he said. “Our government appreciates the dedication of these 170 families as they continue to work hard to ensure delivery of high-quality, safe, healthy and sustainable food products for consumers.”

The centre “promises to be an important research and training centre with a special focus on public engagement,” he added.

As an egg farmer, Kroeker-Klassen noted the benefit of the facility to her industry.

“We want people to love eggs for all their versatility, their attributes, their benefits. Having a place like this, that shows what we’re doing on the farm, it’s fantastic.”

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Representatives from Manitoba Egg Farmers, the University of Manitoba and the provincial government were on hand today at the grand opening of the 22,000 square foot Manitoba Egg Farmers Learning and Research Centre at the University of Manitoba’s Glenlea Research Station.

The new state-of-the-art egg research centre will shine a light on modern egg production technologies and showcase what modern egg farmers do every day for the benefit of the public.

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Egg farmers and community supporters donated 12,000 dozen eggs to the hungry in the province in October, breaking a record for the most eggs ever donated in a single month.

“It takes a province to feed a province,” said Vince Barletta, president of Harvest Manitoba, in a news release. “In this extraordinary year where Harvest helped more Manitobans than ever before, we are especially grateful for the ‘eggstraordinary’ support of our egg farmers in helping us feed families across our province.”

The boost couldn’t come at a better time, as another less auspicious record was also broken this fall. The number of Manitobans using the food bank is at an all-time high.

[RELATED] Bird flu, Ukraine war push up world egg price

There are 170 farm families producing eggs in Manitoba and donating eggs has been a priority in recent years. Manitoba Egg Farmers has worked with Harvest for many years but after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization made a larger commitment to help all Manitobans access nutritious eggs.

Since 2020, it has regularly donated pallets of eggs to increase Harvest’s supply of healthy food and in 2022 donated two pallets of eggs per month (more than 20,000 eggs) and supported Harvest in purchasing two pallets at cost.

“We are so proud to have broken this record for the most eggs donated in one month and hope that these eggs make a difference for Manitoba families,” said Catherine Kroeker-Klassen, Manitoba Egg Producers chair, in the same release.

“We were able to visit Harvest in October and help pack eggs into cartons to give directly to families. Seeing the direct result of our donations – the sheer number of eggs in the Harvest warehouse – was incredibly humbling and rewarding.”

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The 4,500 laying-hen barn is expected to be a world-class facility outfitted with cutting-edge scientific testing equipment.

The facility will replace the current one on the University of Manitoba (UM) Fort Garry campus that is out of date and in need of significant upgrades.

“It’s been kept up and maintained, but it is old technology there,” said Catherine Kroeker-Klassen, board chair of Manitoba Egg Farmers (MEF).

“I’m pretty sure my dad, who went to school in the ‘60s, said he was in that barn as part of his schooling.”

Kroeker-Klassen said the total cost of the barn will likely be in the $4 million range. In October 2021, the provincial government announced $1.5 million in joint provincial/federal funding toward that total. The rest will be made up by MEF. The University of Manitoba will provide the land and maintain the site.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held June 29 at the site with representation from those three parties.

“It was an opportunity to get our various partners together, and to celebrate that partnership,” Kroeker-Klassen said.

In the news release about provincial funding, then-Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Ralph Eichler noted the importance of the project.

“Our province’s egg farmers account for 10 per cent of the country’s egg production and generate about $120 million in farm cash receipts,” Eichler said. “We look forward to the continuation of research that helps drive interest in eggs and advances the egg industry.”

For the university, the upgraded facility is expected to raise the bar for researchers.

“This new facility will be the hub for egg and layer research aligned with industry priorities on welfare and sustainability and provide world-class training to grow our local and national economies,” said Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) at UM.

The 4,500 birds will be divided, roughly evenly, between an enriched housing environment and a free run aviary. The facility will include research and metabolism rooms, meeting spaces and public viewing areas.

The goal is to advance and enhance research on modern egg production techniques and technologies, but operate in full public view, which is an important aspect of the project, according to Manitoba Egg Farmers.

It is going to be a dual-purpose facility, Kroeker-Klassen said.

“The UM will be able to continue research on laying hens, but the other part of it is to bring the public into a laying hen facility and show them exactly what we do as modern egg farmers,” she said. “We are opening up the barn doors, quite literally.”

She said it will be the most modern egg layer research, education and training facility in Canada and the only one purpose-designed to connect with the public.

The barn will become part of the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre at Glenlea. Manitoba Egg Farmers now has a small enriched housing display inside the main centre, but it has no hens. The new barn will be located beside the dairy facility that opened in 2018.

Kroeker-Klassen estimates the new facility will open early in 2023.

“We’re really excited about this,” she said, particularly in terms of the public window into the industry.

“We want people to know where their food comes from and to allow them to make informed decisions on the foods that they choose,” she said. “People love eggs, and we want them to continue to love eggs.”

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“You have to have land, equipment of course, and be an actual farmer,” he said in an interview Sept. 25.

During the national agriculture debate organized by the Canadian Federation of agriculture broadcast online Sept. 24, Kate Storey, a Green party candidate and Grandview, Man., farmer, claimed an Ontario corporation was buying Manitoba egg farms.

“Supply management was supposed to work for family farms,” Storey said. “It was supposed to keep dairy and poultry (production) in the hands of family farmers.

Rybuck said egg production allocated to Manitoba can’t be sold and removed from Manitoba.

Farmers from other provinces can buy egg quota in Manitoba and hire someone to operate their Manitoba barns, but they can’t lease out their quota, he said.

“They are actual bona fide farms,” Rybuck added.

“We do have a handful of farms purchased by people outside the province. That’s been the case for decades really.

“But they have invested in the industry here by building new barns. It could, if I had to hazard a guess, be Burnbrae Farms (Storey was referring to). They are an Ontario family, but again for decades they have invested in grading and processing and production capacity in Manitoba. I’m not sure what she is referencing.”

In an interview Sept. 25 Storey said her comment came in the heat of the moment, and based on complaints she had heard, but couldn’t verify.

However, she said she stands by her criticism of supply management.

The Green party is split on supply management, in part because it restricts farmers from producing raw milk and pastured poultry, Storey said.

“The fundamental issue is we need more people in rural Canada,” she said.

While much of agriculture has been consolidating, the number of Manitoba egg farmers has grown with the demand for eggs, Rybuck said. Since 2009, Manitoba has added 24 new egg farms, including two that will come from an upcoming lottery. The winners will each receive quota for 6,000 laying hens.

The size of Manitoba egg farms is capped at a maximum of 125,000 hens.

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It’s evident in the way he shows off every detail on a tour through the sparkling-clean layer barns, something he’s done many times.

There’s good reason for that. The Siemens’ two free-run aviary barns, near Rosenort, were his brainchild. Before they broke ground in 2017, Harley crisscrossed the country researching the housing style to the tiniest detail.

Now, the barns are a way to build trust with the consumer through tours and inviting in the media. He’s even had a Global news reporter and camera person — in full coveralls, chickens hopping everywhere — inside one of the layer enclosures.

“I find the most important way to try and — not convince them but to show them what we do — is just be really good at it,” Harley said. “I usually don’t have to change their minds about anything because they believe what I say.”

• Read more: Young farmer learning ropes of egg sector

Siemens Farms

As far as Harley knows, the Siemens family, who are Mennonites, have been farming all the way back to the old country. He doesn’t know exactly when the Siemens’ farm was established, but his grandparents incorporated in 1963.

At the time they were a mixed farm, which included layer hens. When the property, just down the road from the current farm site, got too small they moved to the Sanford area to expand. They had a large grain operation and maintained a quota of layers.

In 1983, Grandpa Siemens died, and of his seven children, only Harley’s father Kurt wanted to farm. They sold the Sanford farm, took their quota and bought the current property.

Kurt Siemens worked for his mother on the farm until he bought it in 1994. Harley was born in 1995.

Harley recalled the old-style “stair-step” cages in which the chickens lived, often four to a cage. At three years old, he was already helping gather eggs from the lowest tier.

“This is child labour. You can put this into your notes,” he joked to the Manitoba Co-operator.

It took them six hours to gather the eggs by hand with a pushcart, which they brought to the egg room and emptied every so often. They had 17,000 hens.

They retrofitted the old barn to newer-style housing in 2001, and added a row of enriched housing in 2009. This also included upgrading to automated egg gathering.

At age seven, Harley was running the egg packer and using a five-gallon pail to reach to the top of the stack of eggs.

In 2016, right out of university, Harley married his wife Brooklyn. He and Brooklyn moved into the house on the farm property.

At the time they were looking for ways to expand. Their systems were in good shape, but the barns were aging.

They decided to expand to a free-run setup. After extensive research, they chose to use Hellman’s aviary housing. They’re the first to use this equipment in Manitoba, Harley said. Their pullet barn opened April 2018, the first layer barn in August 2018, and the final layer barn in April 2019.

All three barns are connected by a hallway, allowing for easy transport of the pullets between barns.

The new style of housing meant relearning the craft, Harley said. They’ve tackled issues like stampeding chickens (after a crop-duster flew over), and pullets that wouldn’t learn to fly back into their cages at night (which meant thousands of birds had to be hand-lifted into their cages).

“I think that we’re starting to get the hang of it, and they say that in about four years you kind of have it down pat, so we’re in year two,” Harley said.

Egg ambassadors

For Harley, egg farming is a way to carry on his family’s legacy. His grandpa was a well-known man in his community with a reputation for innovation and excellent care for his animals.

Harley’s father Kurt Siemens is on the board of directors for the Egg Farmers of Canada and Manitoba Egg Farmers.

“I see how important the industry is, and I see the disconnect from how people view animal agriculture and how it actually is so I want to break that chain,” Harley said.

He said he’s seen pressures change, so farmers face attacks against animal agriculture.

“We don’t just have to farm. We have to try and show that we farm well,” he said.

Besides farming full time, Harley also co-ordinates exhibits at the Glenlea Research Station (with the University of Manitoba) and will visit school classrooms to talk about egg farming. The barns also have viewing rooms. When he can’t show people the barns directly, he tries to use visuals.

“The most important thing is they’ve got to trust us as farmers,” Harley said. “They’ve got to know where their food is coming from, know that we care for our hens, and once they know that then they can have that good feeling about that when they’re buying those eggs.”

Family

Despite the satisfaction of being an agriculture ambassador, the big reason Harley became a farmer was to give his wife and two young daughters the life he had growing up.

“My biggest thing was, I absolutely loved how I was so close to family all the time,” Harley said. He saw the financial stability his dad had and wanted that for his family. He wanted to be close instead of commuting long distances.

Today he can see Brooklyn and his little girls in the morning before he goes to the barn, and return to have lunch with them.

“You can’t really get much better,” he said.

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At a Sept. 27 event in Winnipeg, the inaugural agriculture “SAFEty” award was bestowed at a gala event that could be considered an Oscar night for work safety efforts in the province. The program is a cross-sectoral effort that aims to promote a safe work culture throughout the province.

Farming, represented by the Manitoba Farm Safety Program, appeared on the awards list along with trucking, manufacturing, the motor vehicle industry, construction and heavy construction.

The provincial program chose and presented the Manitoba Egg Farmers with the award.

“What they were recognized for was not just what they did this year; it’s what they’ve done for the last three years,” program director Keith Castonguay said.

The Manitoba Egg Farmers has been working directly with Manitoba Farm Safety Program consultant, Morag Marjerison.

“Of all the groups that we are associated with, they’ve been the most active in developing a safety program. As a matter of fact, they’ve been one of the few that have been developing a safety program,” Castonguay said. “Rather than any individual or one group, we know that egg farmers have been working very diligently with Morag Marjerison to put together a safety manual and that’s pretty much unique in Manitoba right now.”

The producers’ group is finalizing its industry-wide safety handbook after 18 months of work. The plan must first gain the support of a working group made up of commercial egg farmers.

Cory Rybuck, Manitoba Egg Farmers general manager, says the document is a work in progress despite the award.

“While it was nice to be recognized for our efforts to date, we still have a ways to go to get things to where we want them to be,” he said.

Chicken coop safety was highlighted in March this year, after a producer in eastern Manitoba collapsed and spent two days in hospital with a suspected case of hydrogen sulphide poisoning.

The toxic gas is produced as animal waste breaks down and is a noted problem in enclosed livestock operations.

The safety plan will cover chemical fumes such as ammonia, Rybuck said, along with checking equipment, proper safety procedure and orientation for catching crews, employee supervision and on-farm safety policies.

“What they’re trying to do is sort of build some work process templates and create a resource binder, kind of laying out what individual farms’ responsibilities are under workplace safety and health,” he said.

The producer group plans to build on the drafted plan to address gaps or changing needs as they arise.

“It’s similar to the strategy that folks have taken with on-farm food safety programs, for example,” Rybuck said. “You kind of build a base and then, over time, add to it.”

Manitoba Egg Farmers hopes its working group will approve the plan by the end of 2017. It will then be updated at the next Manitoba Egg Farmers’ annual general meeting

“Again, realize that it isn’t going to be this fully comprehensive, multi-volume binder,” Rybuck said. “It’s just a starting point.”

The group met some initial resistance from farmers, who are reluctant about more paperwork and red tape. Rybuck, however, said he believes the plan will gain traction.

“We’ve got good buy-in initially,” he said. “Certainly, the working group has a wide variety of farmers geographically and size-wise. I think folks, farmers, do a lot of good things on farm that aren’t recognized through documentation.”

The producers’ group also argues that the document will give more leverage to farmers should their farm ever be inspected by provincial authorities.

The “SAFEtys” are a new program for 2017 after provincial safety organizations were inspired by the North America Occupational Safety and Health Week, May 7-13.

The farm award’s criteria is still loose, Castonguay said, although he expects that to tighten in the future.

“There wasn’t a lot of time from the conception to the actual award,” he said.

Award criteria will be approved by Manitoba Farm Safety’s farm safety council, which represents different industries, regions and Safe Work Manitoba.

Castonguay also plans to start the selection process earlier next year.

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The new limit for producers operating outside of the supply management system is triple what was available before.

Cory Rybuck, general manager for Manitoba Egg Farmers said 300 hens will lay about 90,000 eggs a year and unregulated farmers can sell these eggs ungraded to the general public from their farm gate.

The increase in the personal non-quota limit puts Manitoba Egg Farmers in line with neighbouring egg boards in the Prairie provinces (Saskatchewan and Alberta).

MEF represents 164 egg farmers who produce 59 million dozen eggs annually with 2.3 million laying hens.

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As the AI outbreak continues south of the border, Canadian importers must look further afield for processing eggs, increasing delivery times and transportation costs.

Manitoba sources most of its egg imports from the U.S. Midwest. But now eggs cannot come up through Minnesota because the state is riddled with AI. Transporters are forced to take the long way around through Montana, adding another 1,500 km per trip and increasing shipping costs by about $1,700 a load.

The growing squeeze on U.S. egg supplies has caused the cost of processing eggs to skyrocket. The price of ‘breaker’ eggs imported for processing has nearly quadrupled from 65 U.S. cents a dozen to $2.35 in just over a month, according to Egg Farmers of Canada.

So far, importers have been able to source enough eggs to meet demand. But rising prices are putting a strain on the industry, said Tim Lambert, EFC’s CEO.

“We’re currently able to source supply. It’s the price. As supplies tighten, the price goes up. There’s more competition for available supply,” Lambert said.

Lambert said EFC is working closely with other industry players to locate adequate egg supplies outside the country while ramping up domestic production by placing more layer hens.

Other strategies include extending flock cycles and expanding the national Eggs For Processing program, which enables provincial marketing boards to issue special permits for processed eggs to meet market requirements.

“Our solution is, pay the price for as short a time as possible and gear up our own production as fast as possible,” Lambert said.

A strong growth in Canada’s table egg consumption has led to a shortage of processing eggs and increased the need to source supplies from outside the country. Lambert said the average Canadian ate 18 dozen eggs last year, up from 15.6 dozen eight years ago. Egg imports are up 30 per cent over last year, with most going to the breaker market.

Canada also imports roughly 20 per cent of its broiler hatching eggs, as well as many of its breeder pullets. So far, the AI outbreak in the U.S. does not appear to be affecting those supplies.

“Our producers have had no interruption of service or supply whatsoever,” said Wayne Hiltz, executive director for Manitoba Chicken Producers. “That doesn’t mean there’s no logistical headaches going on behind the scenes but they’ve seen no interruption.”

Hiltz said hatcheries have been working together to combine loads and reroute shipments to reduce risk. Sometimes delivery schedules need to be adjusted by several weeks but no orders have been cancelled so far.

Chicken industry officials say most orders for breeder pullets are placed a year in advance, so they’re safe. However, some industry analysts suggest they may not be as secure as producers think. Post Holdings Inc. last week said avian flu constitutes a “force majeure event” for its Michael Foods egg business. Declaring force majeure means a company can get out of contract obligations due to an unpredictable event beyond its control.

The U.S. is battling its biggest outbreak of pathogenic avian influenza on record, with nearly 200 detections reported in 16 states. Over 43 million birds have been affected.

Lambert said biosecurity for poultry barns in the U.S. is generally high. But because American poultry operations operate on a massive corporate scale, the risk for spreading disease can be significant.

The average flock size in the U.S. is 1.5 million birds. Lambert said the traffic from feed trucks and catching crews can involve hundreds of people going in and out of barns, raising the danger of transmitting pathogens.

Here in Canada, layer farms are mainly family operations averaging 22,000 birds. That makes it easier to limit access to barns and impose strict biosecurity measures, said Lambert.

“Having the smaller-scale industry that we have very much works in our favour.”

Even so, poultry farmers have enhanced their biosecurity because of the possible spread of AI from the south. Hiltz said the Manitoba chicken board has raised its four-level biosecurity protocol to Level 3 (enhanced). Producers are advised not to allow anyone except essential personnel on their farms, use specific footwear and clothing when entering buildings and spray shoes and floor pads with Lysol when getting in and out of vehicles.

“To date, our biosecurity has allowed us to stay avian influenza free in Manitoba,” said Hiltz.

Cory Rybuck, Manitoba Egg Farmers general manager, said his producers are not under enhanced biosecurity yet. But MEF is providing them with updates on the U.S. situation and telling them to “make sure that their driveways and barn doors are their best lines of defence.

“The concern is still high and certainly for the next month we’ll see what’s going to happen in the States. There’s no reason to take our foot off the gas at this point,” Rybuck said.

There have been several incidents of AI in Ontario and British Columbia reported in 2015 and late 2014. The last case in Manitoba involved a turkey breeder north of Winnipeg in 2010.

With files from Reuters

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More than 75,000 birds have already been euthanized at two farms in Ontario and farms in the American Midwest have seen more than seven million birds destroyed this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Now cases have been found in areas bordering Manitoba.

“What we’ve been doing with our producers is just keeping them up to date with the developments, particularly those in Minnesota,” said Cory Rybuck, general manager of Manitoba Egg Farmers.

“There were a couple of confirmed cases in Roseau County, which is right along the Manitoba border,” he said.

As reported by the Grand Forks Herald, 26,000 turkeys have been destroyed in that county alone — just south of the international boundary — since April 16. In total, nearly 50 farms have been infected with avian flu across the state, where Governor Mark Dayton has declared a state of emergency.

But the only real boundary producers need to focus on is the one at the end of their driveway, experts say.

“The best way to protect your flock is by implementing good biosecurity practices at the farm gate and at the barn door,” stressed Dr. Megan Bergman, chief veterinarian for the province.

“The most important thing is knowing what’s coming on and off your premise, and that includes everything from people, equipment, machinery, vehicles and other birds, or anything that has come into contact with other birds. Producers need to have a heightened awareness,” she said.

Linked

Many confirmed cases of H5N2 and H5N8 virus are believed to be linked to the spread of infected fecal matter, possibly tracked from one barn to the next on soiled footwear.

There have also been reports in the U.S. of airborne transmission of the disease, but only over very short distances.

Bergman noted that avian flu viruses are not particularly hardy and would likely have a maximum range of only a kilometre, maybe a kilometre and a half, if airborne.

Rybuck added that because poultry farms in Manitoba aren’t located close together, who and what is entering the farm is more of a concern.

“Unless you’ve got a real concentration of facilities like you do in the States, or maybe in the Fraser Valley, that type of transmission is less of a concern,” he said. “But it’s still something to be aware of.”

Egg producers and others are also being reminded that if a case of avian influenza is confirmed, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will require a detailed history of anyone or anything that visited a farm in the 21 days leading up to the outbreak.

“We’ve got that record-keeping in place now, but we’re just reminding producers to make sure they are keeping those records,” said Rybuck.

Communication

Manitoba Chicken Producers is also being kept abreast of the situation with regular updates and notes on biosecurity.

“We’ve been communicating with our producers, probably for a month or so now, encouraging enhanced biosecurity,” said spokeswoman Karen Armstrong. “We have several levels of biosecurity, one being our regular biosecurity that happens day to day on a farm. We’re now at enhanced biosecurity to basically reduce the chances of something happening locally.”

Extra biosecurity measures have also been adopted by poultry processors and transport companies, she said.

“It’s very much a collective effort at all times,” said Bergman. “In Manitoba we have what is called the avian influenza response plan that was developed jointly with CFIA and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, as well as with other provincial and government partners, as well as industry.”

But with the disease present in wild bird populations, the risk is always there.

“It typically does circulate in the wild bird population,” said the chief vet. “Right now it seems to be at a bit of a higher level. But it’s not unusual and it’s not unexpected.”

Producers can lower the risk of infection from wild birds by ensuring that food, water and bedding do not come into contact with local fowl before entering the barn. Flocks should also be monitored for any change that could indicate the presence of the virus.

“Producers are asked to be really vigilant in terms of any changes in their flock,” said Bergman. “It could be something as simple as a drop in feed consumption, or a drop in egg production, but it could also be very significant signs, including sudden death.”

Once clinical signs are present, flocks should be tested for the virus. If a positive result occurs, CFIA would take the lead in quarantining the area and destroying the birds, she added.

Hopefully, it never gets to that point.

“We don’t want to overwhelm people,” said Rybuck. “But we do want to keep it top of mind.”

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