AVIAN SCIENCE NOTES - JANUARY 2022

In this Issue:

• 2022 AVIAN BOWL QUALIFIER & THE GREATER CALIFORNIA SOCIETY OF POULTRY FANCIERS’ (GCSPF) SHOW
• HUMBOLDT SHOW WILL BE MISSED IN 2022
• HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA (HPAI) IS BACK AND WITH TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES
• CALENDAR

 

2022 AVIAN BOWL QUALIFIER & THE GREATER CALIFORNIA SOCIETY

OF POULTRY FANCIERS’ (GCSPF) SHOW

    It is a pure poultry delight to report that the GCSPF Officers have decided that they will be able to hold their 2022 show the last weekend in February.    The 2022 Avian Bowl State Qualifier and a full slate of Poultry Showmanship will be held on Sat., Feb. 26th.

    Please visit: www.gcspf.com to see the 2022 Premium Book and to obtain entry forms.   Parents and Leaders need to familiarize themselves with the time table and get the Showmanship Forms submitted to GCSPF.   There is NO on-site registration.

    Avian Bowl entry forms can be downloaded from this site.   Entry forms need to be returned to me, Dr. Bradley.  Do NOT send the Avian Bowl entries to GCSPF.

     For teams and coaches new to Avian Bowl: any team (may have 2, 3, or 4 players) may enter.   There is no PRE-Qualifier for the Qualifier.    Any team may enter the competition.  Just make sure that all members are on a team are in the same age group (see entry form).   Members of a single team may come from more than one county.

     If you know someone who would like to try Avian Bowl with a group of young people not in 4-H (FFA, Grange, independent) they are welcome.   Do understand that in Senior Avian Bowl at Fresno, the 1st place team qualifies to represent California at the 4-H National Poultry and Egg Conference (Louisville, Kentucky in November).   Obviously, the qualifying team must be a 4-H team.   Therefore, should a team of senior-age independent youth come in 1st place, the highest placing 4-H team would be the team sent to Kentucky.

     Should you need to order a copy of the Avian Bowl Study Manual and/or cannot remember the sections of the Manual that will be used for competitions in 2022, please go to the 2021-12-07 posting on this site.   The December 2021 issue of Avian Science Notes contains all the pertinent information.

      IMPORTANT: The State Qualifier is an official 4-H event,  we will follow the directives from the State 4-H Office:

1. Everyone must wear a mask, so make sure your team members are used to speaking LOUDLY with masks on.

2. There will be physically distancing during competition and for spectators from different  households.

3. Obviously, no one feeling ill or exhibiting COVID symptoms should attend.

 

HUMBOLDT SHOW WILL BE MISSED IN 2022

    Due to problems with a vendor, the Humboldt Poultry Fanciers’ Association (HPFA) has cancelled its 2022 show.   For many of us, it would not be mid-February without the hearts of St. Valentine’s Day and the wonderful event that is the HPFA Show.    Look for the show to return in 2023, probably at a new venue.

 

HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA (HPAI)

IS BACK AND WITH TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES

     HPAI is something we are warned about annually.   As migratory birds move across the globe each winter, the virus can also move with them.   The H5N1 strain of HPAI is having devastating effects on the avian populations of Israel.   As of the first week in January, over 1 million commercial poultry had been depopulated in Israel.   In addition, 5,200 migrating wild cranes had died in what the Jewish Press described as the “worst ecological disaster to hit the country” (www.jewishpress.com, Jan. 6, 2022).

      You might be saying to yourself, “Not to worry, Israel is a long way from Sonoma/Santa Barbara/San Diego counties.”     Well, in the last days of 2021, HPAI was detected in an exhibition flock of poultry in the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.  

      History is important and valuable.   In 2015, another strain of HPAI made it to the United States.   When the outbreak was finally controlled, 15 of our States had become positive for the virus and over 43 MILLION domestic poultry died.  This was incredible loss to the owners of those birds.

      If you now are thinking this is a problem worthy of your attention, you may be asking what you can do.   I hope there is a chorus of “biosecurity” coming from many readers.    It is simple to greatly decrease the likelihood that your birds will become exposed to the virus.   Keep your birds in a structure that prevents the entry of wild birds.   That is, use appropriately-sized wire mesh on the walls of your poultry yards.   In addition, have the runs COVERED with a solid material.   By doing that, any wild bird that flies over cannot drop contaminated fecal material, feather, or dander on to your birds.

As this issue was being finalized, I received word that USDA has confirmed H5N2 in an American wigeon (dabbling duck)  in Colleton County, South Carolina.   This disease is in the United States; let us work to keep it out of our California flocks.

 

CALENDAR

2022

Cancelled          Humboldt Poultry Fanciers’ Association Show; look for return of show in 2023.

Feb. 26              California State Avian Bowl Qualifier, GCSPF Show, Big Fresno Fairgrounds, Fresno    Info.: Dr. Bradley (760) 699-5078

Feb. 26               GCSPF Show, Big Fresno Fairgrounds, Fresno.   Info.: www.gcspf.com

July 20               Avian Bowl (5 PM), Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa.   Open to all teams, all counties.   Info.: ocfinfo@ocfair.con; on-line registration only.

                                Questions: Dr. Bradley  (760) 699-5078