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Raising the bar on biosecurity: Managing wild birds
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Billy Hackett, director of the specialty product division, Arkion Life Sciences, and Elizabeth Doughman, editor, WATT PoultryUSA and Poultry Future, break down how birds carry HPAI from wetlands to farmyards, and why managing the outside of the barn is just as important as what happens inside.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast Series
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Future of Poultry podcast series.
00:00:13
Speaker
Hello, I'm Elizabeth Duffman, the editor of What Poultry USA and Poultry Future.
Sponsorship and Product Introduction
00:00:18
Speaker
This Future Poultry podcast is brought to you by Archeon Life Sciences. Archeon Life Sciences develops science-based solutions that help agricultural producers strengthen biosecurity and manage wildlife-related challenges.
00:00:33
Speaker
Flight Control Max is one of Archeon's products that supports the poultry industry, non-lethal bird repellent that conditions wild birds to avoid treated areas over time, helping farms reduce bird pressure and lower the risk of HPAI and other disease threats around poultry facilities.
Guest Introduction and HPAI Discussion
00:00:51
Speaker
Joining us today is Billy Hackett, Director of the Specialty Product Division for Archeon Life Sciences.
00:00:58
Speaker
Thanks for joining us, Billy. Thank you for your time Sometimes producers can feel like highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as HPAI, is out of their control.
00:01:08
Speaker
What practical steps can they take today to lower their risk? Yes, thank you. HPAI can feel overwhelming. Obviously, it's wreaked havoc on the poultry industry over the past few years.
00:01:20
Speaker
At the current outbreak, there's been over 200 million poultry birds affected in the U.S. s alone. Obviously, we need to start with all the conventional biosecurity protocols, disinfection, foot baths, foot coverings, access control, sanitation. you know, obviously, all of these things are critical.
The Role of Wild Birds in HPAI
00:01:35
Speaker
But one of the things that can truly elevate a facility's biosecurity is by trying to tackle one of the hardest risks to manage, and that's wild birds. Wild birds and wildlife are one of the most challenging aspects to biosecurity because basically wild birds don't follow our biosecurity protocols.
00:01:52
Speaker
Even a facility with the most strict biosecurity protocols in place is still at risk for wild birds. And unfortunately, despite everyone's best efforts, HPAI is still here and doesn't appear to be going away or slowing down anytime soon.
00:02:06
Speaker
So trying to control wild birds is a facet of biosecurity that is unfortunately often overlooked. But using a bird repellent as part of your integrated biosecurity plan can dramatically reduce your chance of introducing HPAI to your facility.
00:02:20
Speaker
Studies suggest that wild birds and waterfowl are the primary drivers of the current HPAI outbreak, with USDA data suggesting that over 80% of all HPAI cases are caused by direct transmission from wild birds.
00:02:35
Speaker
How can bird repellents help to break the transmission pathway? Yes, that's correct. what Wild birds are directly responsible for an overwhelming majority of HPAI outbreaks. And that's why it's critical to address wild birds directly and to try to prevent them from using land and areas around the poultry facilities by using bird repellents.
00:02:55
Speaker
An effective bird repellent can significantly lower your risk of getting HPAI. Wild birds often waterfowl like geese and ducks. They'll contaminate an area with their feces, saliva, just being in the water, or even direct surface contact.
00:03:08
Speaker
Just the presence of wild birds on or near facility introduces the risk of disease. When people think about HPAI, they often think of geese and ducks as the primary culprit, and they are.
00:03:20
Speaker
But oftentimes people may get a false sense of confidence that they're not at risk because they don't see the geese and ducks up around the buildings themselves. They think they're in a clear because they don't see the geese and ducks that are bringing the disease to the facilities themselves.
00:03:32
Speaker
I mean, this is the challenge with biosecurity. We have bridge hosts. but Those are animals like sparrows, fox, skunks, swallows, blackbirds, or even rats. These are the animals that we do actually see up up near the buildings. And these bridge hosts, as they're named, they bridge the gap between the wild waterfowl that may be farther away from the facilities, but pick up the virus because they're using the same areas as the infected birds.
00:03:56
Speaker
And these are the wildlife that actually bring disease up to the buildings. So even if waterfowl never even touched the barns directly, the bridge hosts close that gap, physically bringing HPAI up to the farm buildings.
00:04:08
Speaker
And that's why managing wild birds, wild bird activity around the poultry facility is such a critical part of trying to prevent an outbreak. From a disease prevention standpoint, that is absolutely critical. By trying to keep birds from landing, feeding, or loitering around the barns, fields, or lagoons, an effective bird repellent reduces the chance of an HPAI from being mechanically carried into the poultry environment.
00:04:30
Speaker
whether that's by wild or fowl or the bridge host themselves. So using a bird repellent is a critical first line of defense in breaking the wild to domestic transmission pathway.
Effectiveness of Bird Repellents
00:04:39
Speaker
The USDA has conducted trials in real-world conditions using bird repellents.
00:04:45
Speaker
What did these trials reveal about its effectiveness in reducing wild bird activity? The USDA trials showed very clearly how effective a bird repellent can be at reducing bird populations and activity around poultry facilities. This specific one here that we're referencing, these trials took place in Iowa and were conducted by USDA Wildlife Services in fall of 2024 and then again in fall of 2025.
00:05:06
Speaker
And at these trials, they tested one specific bird repellent called Flight Control Max. It's a turf repellent with the active ingredient called anthroquinone. And the goal of the trial was simple. It was to see if spraying the product on the grass areas surrounding the poultry facility would impact the total bird populations.
00:05:21
Speaker
And as it turned out, it did reduce it big time. In the weeks prior to application, Wildlife Services conducted bird surveys and counted over 3000 birds, 26 species of birds in the four and a half acre plot that they plan to spray.
00:05:34
Speaker
And then they did the spray and then in the weeks after application, that bird population was reduced down to just 260 birds and 16 species. So again, we went from 3000 birds to 260.
00:05:45
Speaker
two hundred and sixty And if you're doing the math, that's over a 90% reduction in bird activity in in that treated area. The trials were conducted again in 2025 and produced almost identical results as far as the percentage of bird reduction.
00:05:56
Speaker
And the implications of this success could be huge for the future of the poultry industry to finally have a viable solution to deal with the leading cause of HPAI transmission near the wild birds. So using a bird repellent like Flake Control Max truly gives the producer a chance to keep wild birds away from the buildings, which will reduce the risk of HPAI or other dangerous diseases that they carry.
00:06:15
Speaker
um It's also probably important to mention that the USDA does offer wildlife biosecurity assessments where They can visit a farm and give recommendations on how to improve their biosecurity. They try to to determine if wild birds are a risk factor for the facility and and they'll make recommendations on how to best mitigate that risk. And oftentimes bird repellents like Flight Control Max are one of the tools that the USDA uses to safely repel birds, reduce the disease pathways and strengthen the overall perimeter biosecurity.
00:06:41
Speaker
And they do that because it's a practical science backed approach at stopping HPAI before it ever even reaches the flock.
Cost-effectiveness and Resources
00:06:47
Speaker
When producers ask, is it worth it? How do you explain the ah ROI of preventing wild bird activity versus dealing with an outbreak? Well, obviously an HPAI outbreak can be catastrophic. You know we're talking about the total destruction of the flock, carcass disposal, decontamination, months of lost productivity, you know, clean out costs, incurred costs of restocking.
00:07:07
Speaker
And obviously the biggest cost of all is the loss of revenue. It can truly be devastating. And, you know, when you look at the data, the choice is clear. Preventing wild bird exposure costs a fraction of what a single HPAI outbreak does.
00:07:19
Speaker
So using bird repellents aren't just about bird control, they're about protecting your operation, your flock, and your livelihood. You know, it's important to know that HPAI risk doesn't stop at the barn door and neither should your biosecurity.
00:07:30
Speaker
Wild birds remain one of the most predictable pathways for disease introduction, but we now know that they're also one that you can address. Reducing bird activity around your farm with a bird repellent is it's a simple proactive step that can help you protect your flock and truly elevate your biosecurity.
00:07:46
Speaker
Thank you so much for sharing these insights. For more information on the solutions discussed here today, visit Archeon Life Sciences at flightcontrol.com slash HPAI dash avian dash flu.
00:08:00
Speaker
For more episodes of the Future Poultry podcast, please like and subscribe on wattpoultry.com or wherever you access podcasts. Thanks again, Billy, and thanks to you for tuning in.