Alberta’s poultry producers are working through the worst avian flu season in years.
Scott Olson has been through it twice before.
The Wetaskiwin-area turkey farmer lost his 10,000-bird flock in the spring of 2022, when the wild geese migration passed over, then again when they returned in the fall.
Now he is dealing with his third outbreak and third cull.
Olson is again pressure-washing his two large barns — disinfecting them as he awaits an inspection — and preparing to restart a recertified operation after Christmas with new hatchlings.
“It’s such a bad disease,” said Olson, also a director with Alberta Turkey Producers.
“We work with a stamp-out policy, essentially so we’re not affecting our neighbours … It’s like a fire: you’re just trying to put the fire out.”
Olson’s was one of 11 commercial poultry farms in Alberta under the direction of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as active quarantine and containment zones as of Nov. 30.
There were six in all of 2024 in Alberta, including two at large commercial operations. Chicken and turkey meat farms, egg production facilities and hatcheries saw 10 outbreaks in 2023 and 38 in 2022.
All together, 2.5 million birds in Alberta have died as a result of avian influenza over that time period, second only to British Columbia with more than nine million deaths.
Those provinces account for two-thirds of all deaths across the country.
And it has gotten worse in Alberta this fall.
“It’s on everybody’s mind,” said Jeff Notenbomer, who breeds chickens near Lethbridge and sits as a director on the Canadian Poultry Research Council.
He has avoided an outbreak but sympathizes with those whose flocks are threatened.
“We’re all, you know, being extra vigilant that we’re doing everything perfect.”
Farms guard against spread
That means isolating flocks, limiting visitor access, and washing boots or tires before equipment enters a barn.
Some biologists wonder if the “biosecurity” standards needed to stop the highly infectious disease are attainable for farm operations.
“[High-level] bio-safety in a barn, where you’re driving a tractor in, that’s a big challenge to keep completely safe,” said University of Alberta biology professor Kathy Magor, who specializes in avian flu.
She said the concentration of poultry facilities near waterways where birds nest along migration routes is the main reason for high numbers in the west.
The virus can be present in feces left behind in fields.
Officials have confirmed cases of avian influenza at a commercial poultry facility in Strathcona County, and another facility in Leduc is under investigation. It’s the latest set of bird flu cases in the province since a recent outbreak at a petting zoo in Calgary. Kathy Magor is a biological sciences professor at the University of Alberta who researches avian influenza.
And what some may point to as an obvious suspect might not be the main culprit in the spread, said Magor.
“Everyone hates Canada geese, but they are very susceptible to avian influenza; they die if they get it,” said Magor.
She said more study is needed, but some wild birds may be more dangerous carriers because they can live with the disease longer.
“Some other species that are migrating as well are less susceptible and maybe carry it farther.”
This fall, the outbreaks track north to south, likely due to a mild fall and extended migration period.
Time is money for farmers who get paid by weight
Alberta’s Ministry of Agriculture reports 22 flocks have seen outbreaks since the start of the year.
The latest is at a 40,000-turkey operation near Taber that was detected in late November.
The outbreaks, though devastating for individual farmers, represent a relatively small portion of the estimated 15 million kilograms of poultry that Alberta turkey farms produce each year.
And it is not likely enough to drive prices higher for consumers, according to farm price observers. Still, Statistics Canada reports that turkey prices in October were slightly above last fall’s in Alberta and across the country.
But for individual producers, an outbreak represents months of work and lost profit.
When the Canadian Food Inspection Agency orders a cull related to an infectious disease, it compensates the owner for the market value of the animals at that time.
That means if the flock or herd is still maturing — gaining pounds that set the price — the payout is less than what the farmers expected to earn at the end of the season.
There are also added costs and downtime.
“While I’m cleaning and disinfecting, I’m missing out on potential flock,” said Olson, who has already delayed delivery of a batch of new turkey chicks, known as poults, which were due just as the infection showed up on his farm.
“It’s also a major blow to them mentally,” said Notenbomer. “Depending on the different feather [poultry] industries, it can take well over a year to recover.”
Farms, surrounding land become ‘primary containment zones’
Olson’s 10,000 birds were housed in two large barns and were considered exposed last month after a positive test.
“The avian influenza pretty much wiped out one barn — it acts pretty quickly — and the second barn was euthanized,” said Olson.
“Depopulating” a farm has been part of the strategy to tackle bird flu since 2022 in order to eradicate the disease at specific sites, known as “containment zones.” No livestock is allowed in or out of the premises. Carcasses are destroyed or buried deep underground.
Monitoring for wild bird deaths continues within a 10-kilometre radius for 28 days after the orders are lifted.
Once cleaned, disinfected and certified by inspectors, farm activity can resume.
The strategy, commonly used for the most serious animal diseases, has been the focus of controversy this year, following the cull of an ostrich herd that was exposed to bird flu in British Columbia.
Marksmen killed around 300 ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., as part of a controversial cull. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered the cull late last year after detecting cases of avian flu in the flock. As Brady Strachan reports, the months-long saga sparked a debate around perceived government overreach.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency declined interview requests about the situation in Alberta, and an outbreak involving 100,000 turkeys in southern Ontario this month.
Olson told CBC News that he’s happy to work with the agency but is becoming frustrated with the cycle.
“When the geese came through in the spring [of 2022], our farm got it. And when they went home in the fall, we got it again,” he said.
“I didn’t market a turkey that year.”
