The devastating impact of avian influenza on poultry operations cannot be overstated. Over the years, Wild Goose Chase has worked with farms across the Midwest that have faced catastrophic losses. One operation in eastern Indiana was forced to cull 5 million birds, while a neighboring facility in western Ohio lost 2 million birds. Even with government reimbursement programs, these losses create enormous financial strain and require farms to demonstrate concrete risk-mitigation strategies for future outbreaks.
Unfortunately, Wild Goose Chase is often contacted after a farm has already experienced a bird flu outbreak or watched a neighboring operation suffer devastating losses. By that point, the urgency is palpable, but we believe proactive bird management is the key to mitigating operational disruptions.
Locating the Bird Flu Threat
The primary vector for avian influenza transmission at poultry facilities is airborne fecal matter from wild birds entering through air intake vents. When nuisance birds congregate near critical infrastructure points, they create a significant biosecurity risk. Our assessments consistently identify four high-risk areas on poultry farms where wild birds concentrate:
- Grain silos attract birds to feed spillage and storage areas. Wild birds are attracted to poultry operations for the steady supply of food and will swarm to feed wherever there is access to grain or spillage during transportation.
- Manure barns provide shelter for wild birds, as well as an additional source of food. When manure barns are located near air outflow points, dried fecal matter from wild birds can become airborne, potentially allowing viral loads to circulate back through the ventilation system.
- Roofline ledges and gutter lines offer ideal perching and roosting spots for small birds with vantage points for locating food sources.
- While it may not seem like an urgent, immediate threat, surrounding environments such as crop fields and ponds provide ideal food sources and roosting locations for large flocks of migratory waterfowl, such as geese, swan and cranes, and must also be evaluated as a threat to poultry operations. The size of these birds and scale of their migratory flocks can quickly lead to significant quantities of fecal build up. Although waterfowl fecal build-up may not be directly on buildings and structures, the quantity and type of droppings created by migratory flocks of large birds can aerosolize in dry, windy conditions and travel a longer distance to intake vents, posing a risk to your domestic flock.
The presence of wild birds, whether small flocking birds like starlings and sparrows, or large waterfowl like geese, can create major risks for poultry operations.
Our Comprehensive Solutions
When Wild Goose Chase visits a poultry operation, our first step is always to conduct a thorough site assessment to identify problem areas, document bird activity with photographs, and note which species are present. This detailed evaluation allows us to develop customized solutions for each facility’s unique challenges.
For small bird species, we strategically install laser deterrent systems designed to cover 5-10 acres per unit, carefully minimizing blind spots. This acreage recommendation is critical. We frequently observe systems installed by other companies that attempt to cover too much ground. Fast-moving small birds quickly learn to exploit gaps in coverage, rotating between areas and rendering the system ineffective.
For the larger flocking bird species such as geese, swans, and cranes, an elevated laser can scan a much larger area of the surrounding environment to prevent large build ups of droppings created by flocks feeding and roosting for long periods during migration. Migratory waterfowl travel in large flocks, and as a result, can create large fecal matter accumulation that poses a direct threat to domestic poultry flocks. For this reason, it is also important to protect the adjacent habitat from larger birds in addition to the immediate structural environment from smaller bird species.
However, lasers alone cannot provide complete protection. For air intake vents specifically, we recommend appropriately sized netting that physically prevents small birds from accessing these vulnerable entry points. Lasers cannot fully protect every nook and corner where birds might perch near ventilation infrastructure because lasers cannot penetrate physical barriers.
For indoor spaces, like manure barns, we also recommend additional solutions like methyl-anthranilate vapor mist to enhance deterrence in these particularly challenging environments. Methyl Anthranilate is a food grade chemical made from concentrated grape skin extract that triggers an unpleasant but harmless sensation in the nerves near bird beaks and eyes. Birds experience an immediate avoidance response and, crucially, never acclimate to the effect—making it a highly effective long-term deterrent for enclosed spaces with lots of nooks and crannies where visual deterrence methods may be less practical. By layering this additional solution with laser deterrence systems, we can increase the likelihood that wild birds avoid an operation’s most vulnerable areas.
The Value of Prevention
Waiting until after an outbreak to implement bird control measures is a costly mistake. The financial burden of culling millions of birds, the emotional toll on farm workers, and the long-term reputational impact make prevention not just advisable. It’s essential.
Our nearly 30 years of experience in commercial bird management have taught us that strategic, properly installed and programmed deterrent systems can significantly reduce wild bird presence around critical infrastructure. For poultry operations facing increasing avian influenza pressure, proactive protection is invaluable.
Contact us today to learn how your operations can be protected from avian influenza.
Carla Wagner is the Lead Biologist and Director of Solutions for Wild Goose Chase. She is responsible for overseeing the delivery of technical solutions to customers and investigating emerging solutions in the bird control space. Carla has a degree in Biology and Environmental Science and has been with Wild Goose Chase for over 20 years as our first wildlife biologist.