So, last month, the agricultural community was rocked by a devastating story concerning a hatchery that discovered avian influenza within their breeding flocks. The consequence was the heartbreaking necessity to destroy approximately 12,000 birds and a staggering 990,000 fertile eggs. This wasn't just any ordinary hatchery; this particular establishment stands as one of, if not the most significant waterfowl hatcheries in the entire United States of America. Adding a deeply personal layer to this tragedy for the speaker is the fact that this very hatchery is the origin point, either directly or through ancestral lines, of virtually every single one of their ducks and geese. "Release the quacken! Yes, so of all of the ducks and geese that you guys see right here, I am pretty sure every single one of these birds comes from Metzer Hatchery." The speaker noted a few exceptions, such as Bruce the goose and some of the other buff geese, whose origins couldn't be definitively traced back to Metzer. However, a strong inclination remained that they too were likely Metzer progeny. Among the ducks, only Ralph, the little call duck with the distinctive green head and white neck, had an unknown genetic background. "But if I was going to put some money on it, my guess would still be that they came from Metzer, and then among all of my ducks, the only duck I can't verify is my little call Duck Ralph, that little guy with the green head and the white neck. I don't actually know where his genetics come from." For all the other waterfowl, the connection to Metzer was clear: either they were directly shipped from the farm or were descendants spanning multiple generations. "But like I said, all of my other waterfowl, every single one, either came from their farm and was shipped here, or the birds are descended from birds that were shipped here, and then, you know, they procreated and had second and third, and I even have a fourth generation running around." The speaker then highlighted the broader impact of Metzer Hatchery. "And the reality is, for most of you guys watching this video at home, your Ducks probably come from Metzer too." This personal connection served to underscore the gravity of the situation. "And I give you guys all of this background just to emphasize just how significant and important Metzer Farm is to really the entire waterfowl industry in the United States, but particularly for folks who are raising them on farms and homesteads and a variety of scales. Like, they truly are the guys for that sort of thing." The news of the avian influenza outbreak was met with profound sadness. "So seeing the news of what happened to them, it's just absolutely tragic." Despite their prominent position in the industry, Metzer remains a relatively small, family-run operation. "Like despite their size and importance, they are still a relatively small family run company. You know, uh, John Metzer actually started the farm when he was in college. You know, his father had been just raising Ducks cuz he liked Ducks, but John was actually the one who turned it into his Hatchery, and now Mark, John's son, is actually now a big part of the business too." The speaker reached out to the Metzer family to offer support and understand the situation. "And so I reached out to them to just kind of find out what happened and see how they're doing." The initial sign of trouble was a sudden and significant drop in egg production. "The first thing we noticed was egg production just drops, and it drops quick, and it drops fast. So that was that was really the first indicator that something was wrong." The speaker then observed some of their own geese exhibiting nesting behaviors, a hopeful sign amidst the somber news. "It's looking more and more like I've got some geese that want to start sitting on nests. Like this girl keeps coming to this one spot every single day, and I have a hunch that she might be the very first Goose to drop an egg this year. As I pointed out in previous videos, I actually have these Nest set up for them, but if she takes up this spot, I'll probably just start adding more straw and maybe even box it in for her." The conversation with Mark Metzer revealed the emotional toll of the situation. "You know, and talking to Mark, just it's really heartbreaking. I mean, I can't even imagine the impact of having to do what they did because Aven influenza was discovered." The initial reaction was disbelief and a search for alternative explanations. "The first thing I think of is like, okay, what else could it be? What else could have caused the EG production drop? Okay, check the water, check the feed, you know, check everything." However, the rapid decline in egg production confirmed the worst fears. "It gets cut in half, then the next day that half gets cut in half again. That was kind of the sign of, okay, there there's something wrong, and we we did think, okay, it could be the Aven flu." The speaker then shared their own deep-seated fear of avian influenza. "I mean, I will admit that probably one of my five biggest farm fears is that I discover Aven influenza in my flocks, and that means that I would basically have to destroy every single bird here on the farm." The potential emotional devastation far outweighed the financial implications. "And while there would be a financial cost to that, it wouldn't even roughly compare to the emotional cost and pain and just how awful that would feel. Like I actually even just struggle to Fathom it. I can't even picture what Mark and his family must be going through." Mark Metzer's words conveyed the immense difficulty of the required actions. "It gets tough to to to have to do all what they're asking, which is putting down the flock of ducks. And so, um, that is a really hard thing to do. It's kind of the worst thing that can happen on a farm really having to put down Birds is is a big deal, whether it's a small flock or a big flock, it's devastating, it's it's terrible, it's emotionally very difficult." The speaker then touched upon a potential benefit of co-housing chickens with ducks and geese. "You know, actually one of the reasons why it's advantageous to have your chickens in with your ducks and geese is because ducks and geese are actually a little bit more resistant to Aven influenza, and so if it showed up in my duck and Goose flock, it would probably be a little bit slower to recognize, but I would find out really quickly with my chickens because I would start to lose chickens really quickly, and then that would be my trigger to reach out to do some testing and find out what's going on." The risk of an outbreak on their own farm was acknowledged, given the presence of migratory waterfowl. "And it's not unfathomable to think that something like that could happen. You know, over the years we've had migrating ducks and geese stop over here, we have all sorts of other wild birds out there." The speaker's free-range system during the summer months increased this susceptibility. "A big part of how I pride myself on my system for raising my birds is the fact that during the summer months, like so basically like kind of from June to like the end of September, my birds don't go inside ever. Like they have like little shelters where they can get protection if they want it, but I'm not locking them up, I'm not putting them in any buildings, not even like a simple Coupe. And so because of that, that actually makes my farm that much more susceptible." The speaker cited a conversation with Tom from McMurray Hatchery, highlighting their indoor housing for biosecurity. "You know, like in talking to my friend Tom over at McMurray, he highlights the fact that one of the reasons why they keep their Birds indoors is for that purpose. All our bones are closed, we do draw from the attic, so there's a, you know, there's a screened access through the attic, and then it draws down through the buildings and then out, so it reduces uh availability for sparrows H you know Birds which I know is something he doesn't love, but it makes perfect sense when you consider how much is at stake and what's at risk." The potential for a single infected wild bird to trigger a widespread outbreak was emphasized. "Just having one stray migrant bird fly over your farm, drop an infected poop, and then having that spread to one of your birds before very quickly spreading on to all of your birds." The speaker then offered advice on mitigating the risk of avian influenza. "And so if you're out there and seeing this video and hearing about Aven influenza and worrying about what you can do, you know, that's why actually, you know, keeping them from having exposure to Wild Birds is the first and most important thing you should do." Careful biosecurity practices, particularly regarding footwear and clothing, were stressed. "I think the other thing to think about really importantly is, you know, be very careful about your Footwear. So, for example, I have Footwear that I only wear here on the farm, and I never wear it anywhere else just in the name of helping from a biocurity perspective. Yeah, actually the same thing goes for like my chore coats that you see me wearing here. I try at all cost to avoid wearing them out anywhere other than here so that one I'm not spreading what we might have and two I'm not bringing back anything that I might encounter out there." Specific biosecurity measures implemented at McMurray Hatchery were shared. "You'll come in, take your boots off, walk over the bench, put a new set of boots on, uh, we have bath foot baths, we've been practicing good biocurity, uh, we have little changing rooms before they go into the barns, they wear clean boots when they walk on the farm." The frustrating uncertainty surrounding the exact transmission methods of avian influenza was mentioned. "I guess that's kind of one frustrating part about one of the many frustrating Parts about Avan influenza is you don't know exactly how you got it because they say could blow in from the wind and our buildings are open-sided and you know we got chicken wire and and we're in the slings Valley and the wind blows every afternoon that's kind of frustrating of like well if you know how you got it you could figure out how to check that off and and prevent it from next time." Diligent biosecurity, quarantine of new birds, and caution regarding poultry shows were recommended. "So you just have to be diligent with all of our biosecurity measures. You can do all of the right things and still end up in a situation where you're you're going to lose birds. And then number three, you want to quarantine and be very careful with new Birds you're bringing onto the farm because again that is an easy way to transmit and particularly if you go to like things like poultry shows or that sort of thing be very careful and I don't know I don't personally try to engage in poultry shows or any sort of events like that only because I'm so concerned about the risk of transmitting various diseases but particularly Aven influenza and so out of an abundance of caution I don't actually even participate in stuff like that." Avoiding contact between domestic poultry and wild waterfowl was also advised. "Yeah I I guess I would be cautious of wild waterfoul flying in and intermingling with your poultry um I know everybody likes to keep their poultry outside um that I think that's one thing that they can do is try to shoe off any that come come nearby um and basic biocurity but don't go to a a a fair a poultry show and then come home in the same clothes just wash the clothes take a shower maybe wear different shoes there is some basic biocurity that any backyard flock owner can can use and I'd advise for that um just to be precautious." The time of year and migratory bird patterns were highlighted as important risk factors. "I think time of year is actually another important consideration if you're worried about your Aven influenza risk you know the biggest risk periods you're going to have are going to be when you have migratory Birds traveling to a new location and so you know typically we have a lot of new types of birds coming in here in the spring they stick around for most of the summer but then by October they're usually heading out and so this time of year is not a high risk time of year for us but when you look at a place like California what is our offseason will often become their on season and so it really depends on where you live in the country or in the world and that is going to drive a big part of when your riskiest times of year are going to be they're the danger time zones and we're we're absolutely in that so the migratory Seasons um you know the migratory birds are the carrier hosts of aan influenza." A past local news report about avian influenza outbreaks in the area underscored the proximity of the threat. "You know I remember actually having a local news crew come out here to the farm a couple of years back because we had a couple of outbreaks in the area including one Farm that's only like about 5 miles away where it's it's actually just like a homestead scale backyard flock that had Aven influenza and I was like terrified because it's not far from us at all flu isn't going away Vermont officials say this strain isn't following typical patterns and all bird owners need to be careful when handling their flock rubber side the minute you step on to Morgan Gold sparm you're not carrying anything in with you I don't know where you've been absolutely not precautions begin to protect his Birds whether you get Aven influenza whether your neighbor gets Aven influenza you know within their flocks or something we're a very tight Community as far as where housing and stuff is what happens is if you get it you euthanize all your birds but if your neighbor gets it well they put you in a control Zone and now you've got to do uh daily testing you're putting more foot traffic in you have the USDA who's coming in and then you have to get permission to ship you know for us that's that's kind of a big deal." A familiar barn cat made an appearance. "Once again I have discovered Pablo Barn Cat's new favorite default spot to hang out during morning chores you love sitting on that goat hay don't you buddy I imagine it's warmer than the ice so that's why he does it cuz he likes to be out here and watch for me because he knows as soon as I'm done with chores when I feed the cats so it'll hang out up here and it's like the perfect vantage point it also keeps them Above The Fray from the dogs isn't that right pal." The role of barn cats in rodent control as a biosecurity measure was explained. "Pablo barncat and Jenny barncat actually play an important role with Aven influenza too most folks know about the fact that you're going to have transmission from Birds but actually rodents are also a transmission vector and so having Barn cats around which is often a popular way to prevent rodents particularly because Birds often have grain and that grain attracts rodents that's definitely another way that you can try to help keep your flocks safe." A check on some of the birds followed. "How's it going in there Captain Jean Way looks like your feathers are growing back in that's nice hey Deb Carmen good to see you girl typically that's how it's it's transmitted in is you know on manure um or Wildlife or rodents so having a good rodent uh protocol is is very important." Greetings were extended to the goats. "Good morning goats how's it going guys oh yeah you see this big bail of hay I got and you look hungry let me give you some treats come on lately I've been letting them come out and explore a little bit particularly in the afternoons I think they're having the exploration Instinct right now versus the it's time to Chow Down on your food where you going there Barney come on head on in there there you go all right you're good good boys yes you are yes you are." The speaker then addressed the crucial question of Metzer Hatchery's ability to fulfill orders. "You know one question I had for Mark was given how badly their Hatchery was impacted by the Aven influenza were they going to be able to fill their orders for this year because when you look at where are most consumers getting their ducks and geese from the answer has historically been metser." The good news was reassuring. "But the good news is it's also going to continue to be metzer we do have another hatchery in Memphis Tennessee another Farm in California we have multiple Farms on in multiple States so we don't have any specific breed only on one Farm we we spread our flocks out so if one Farm ever did get hit we could continue operations We are continuing to hatch in Memphis Tennessee uh we still have all of our breeds for next year we have availability we'll rep populate and so in a couple weeks we'll we'll be putting birds back on the farm and um we have been diverting the eggs on the other Farm of California to Memphis so those will just be diverted back to the hatchery in California we've talked about um moving flocks out of California because California it's just Farm after after farm that you hear uh getting hit with the flu and it it doesn't seem to be slowing down so we're considering moving some more flocks out of California just to be on the safe side." The relief at this news was palpable. "It was such a relief to hear Mark say that they were ready and open for business and able to fill orders all the way into the spring months as they begin their hatching season for their water foul like honestly when I heard about that tragedy my next Biggest Fear was that they would have some problems there and the answer is they don't." Viewers were encouraged to support Metzer Hatchery by placing their waterfowl orders with them. "And if you guys are hearing this story story and hearing what's happened to them and want to find ways to help out the best possible way you could help them out is that as you need to order your water foul this year go check them out I'll leave a link for their website down in the description of this video but the more you can work with them to get your birds it'll help them out significantly as they rebuild their flocks." The presence of a second Metzer location in Tennessee was noted as beneficial for shipping. "I think the other cool thing is and I didn't even realize this until I was talking to Mark is one of my biggest concerns i' had always been ordering from them because I'm in Vermont and they're in California and that's a pretty long distance but since they set up that second site in Nashville that gives them really good postal coverage for pretty much all of the continental United States and so that makes it easier to ship their Birds too and so yes having that Tennessee location is helpful just for diversification to help mitigate some of the risk that they're facing with Aven influenza but it does have that added bonus of making shipping easier for them too." The speaker offered strong endorsements for both Metzer Hatchery and Murray McMurray Hatchery for poultry. "And if I'm going to endorse any waterfoul Hatchery out there it's unquestionably metzer