00:01it didn't just happen now to us we've been watching the h5 virus traveling around the world
00:06for the past four or five years now and and it was very clear to us that it was
00:13in migratory birds and it was basically following the path of migratory birds so
00:18I think while Australia is a distance away we knew it was just a matter of when not if it
00:26was
00:26going to get here we can't do much with the wildlife it's very clear that it's in our wildlife and
00:32and I'm not sure how far it'll spread but this latest one shows us that it's going got into our
00:38local birds so that's another step closer towards our farms so what we do on farms and it's highly
00:44recommended at the moment that all our birds stay locked up and I know a lot of people like free
00:50range and and farmers that lock up the birds are always perceived as probably being cruel but
00:56there's reasons we lock them up and put them in cages I mean it's the best way to protect them
01:01and right now biosecurity is the number one defense for all farmers so good biosecurity on the farm is
01:09critical it's also a welfare issue I mean birds that learn to live outside don't find it comfortable
01:18when they go back inside and they can start cannibalizing each other but you've got to remember
01:23there's a lot of large commercial farms where their birds get locked up majority of the time and it's
01:29probably a little easier for them that to lock up those birds for longer periods at times and those
01:35farmers that never lock up their birds we've had the h7 virus here a few years ago and at that
01:42time
01:43we lost uh probably two million birds or that's approximately 10 percent of our national flock
01:48now the hate uh the experts tell us that this h5 is far more virulent so um the h7 taught
01:57us a lot on
01:57how to prepare uh but uh because it's so virulent uh we are concerned that uh our industry is pretty
02:05much connected eggs travel you know from place to place trucks go from place to place and and we'd be
02:13very concerned if that this spread very quickly then it could have more impact than the last h7 it has
02:19not got onto any farm not a commercial farm or the backyard farm and uh all our flocks are safe
02:26we're
02:27doing our best to make sure it doesn't get onto our farms and the other thing that consumers should
02:32be aware is if if it is even it is on farm eggs and chicken meaters will still be safe
02:38to eat as long
02:38as they're cooked properly it won't be a concern to the health of people in any way
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