East Anglia's poultry farmers are so worried about the threat of bird flu they are considering ditching their free range status.
Christmas turkey producer Chris Mobbs, of P A Mobbs of Cratfield, near Halesworth, said the severity of the outbreaks made him wonder whether he will be able to rear his 3,500-strong flocks outdoors any more - and risk them catching the disease.
Free range egg producer Alaistaire Brice of Havensfield Happy Hen at Hoxne, near Eye, said the situation could change but he was looking at changing to barn egg production in the future if the situation doesn't improve.
Commercial poultry producers have welcomed a lockdown order imposed on kept birds across Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex to try to contain the disease outbreak. They can keep their free range status for their housed birds for a set period, but after that it will lapse.
But the crisis has made them think about the future - and whether rearing outdoor birds even after restrictions are lifted is worth the risk.
"Even if the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) were to get on top of the disease in captive populations it can’t do anything about the virus in wild birds. All egg producers are increasingly losing confidence and money due to high input costs and relatively static egg returns," said Alaistaire.
"We are at a consultation stage now with all our customers to gauge their views about this. But I think - based on the information we have at this moment in time - this seems the only feasible route forward if supplies are to continue to flow from East Anglian farms while avian flu continues to dominate our farming futures."
It would be "a radical and dramatic change" for the business after 23 years of only free-range eggs, he admitted, but it could be the only viable option.
Chris said keeping the birds indoors and labelling them "barn reared" in the future would be less of a risk. "We would still keep with it but would we be able to free range? We don't know what's going to happen. If this is so endemic do we even want to free-range here?"
East Anglia's turkey farmers are nervously watching over their flocks in the run-up to Christmas as the threat of bird flu hangs over the sector.
With less than two months to go before their turkeys are slaughtered and plucked ready for the festive celebrations to begin, they face an anxious wait.
Thousands of birds have already been culled in an attempt to contain outbreaks of the deadly H5N1 avian flu virus, which can be devastating to flocks but which poses a very low risk to humans.
Chris was so worried he took his free range 3,500 turkeys inside a week before government vets issued the housing order. Luckily, he has modern sheds for them - although his system has been designed with outdoor birds in mind.
"It's happening so quick I don't think anyone can keep up with it," he said. "We are feeling scared because it seems to be so endemic in the wild birds. We are literally crossing our fingers."
The housing order was "inevitable", he added, amid a situation which was looking "chaotic". Those in the industry just want to get to Christmas - but after that there needs to be a big rethink, he said.
He is keeping his fingers crossed that the disease won't cross the A140 into the east of Suffolk. The recent outbreaks had been west of the road, around the Breckland areas, he said.
When his Norfolk turkey and geese farmer friend in an Attleborough hotspot was struck by the disease, resulting in a cull of 11,000 of his turkeys and 3,500 geese, Chris decided to take action and bring his birds indoors. He felt his customers would understand the situation he was in and go with him.
Calling them "barn reared" was preferable to losing the flock, he said. "I think the saving grace for us is we site fairly remote from most poultry units. We are very high and open here."
With his input costs rising, Chris has had to put up his turkey prices by 12% amid expected shortages caused in part by the bird flu culls. Fellow turkey farmer Paul Kelly of Kelly Turkeys at Danbury has already announced he is putting up his prices by 16% to cover increased overheads.
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