Bird flu housing rules a 'relief' says farmer near Darlington
William Maughan has 30,000 free range hens
A farmer near Darlington is hoping new housing rules to stop bird flu will help keep his 30-thousand free range hens safe.
William Maughan says the avian influenza is contagious meaning they'd need to be humanely culled if it spread to them.
He said: "We knew this would be coming because there's been an increase in the number of cases and there's been a few local cases, so it's quite a worry when the birds are outside they can pick the disease up from any wild birds, if any wild birds land on the range where our hens are they can pick it up from there.
"We did expect it but it gives us more control and it means we can hopefully stop our hens getting infected from avian influenza by keeping them inside. It's a bit of a relief in a way because it means as long as we're careful with what we're doing, we can keep them fit and healthy.
"The birds like to be outside so it's a bit of a shame for them. It'll hopefully protect them and all sorts of poultry like chickens and turkeys in the run-up to Christmas. Helping to keep our national flock healthy has to be a good thing.
"We'll have to keep our hens inside the sheds which is where they sleep at night and we'll have to provide them with extra toys, they have things in there to entertain them anyway, they have shavings so we'll have to provide them with extra things.
"Hopefully these rules will help us protect our hens from the risk of catching avian influenza because when they're outside there's always a risk they can pick the disease up. If they come into contact with a wild bird and it lands on the range with them, there's a risk of getting infected, so by keeping them inside it'll hopefully protect them."