Our Stance on Avian Influenza

Our Stance on Avian Influenza

July 2024 vol. 2

A few of you have taken the time to forward me articles and news clippings, or ask directly, about the looming crisis in the egg and poultry industry. So when I read a recent article from Dr Mercola I was reminded that I should provide a written response with respect to where we stand regarding Avian Influenza – aka, bird flu.

I don’t doubt that H5N1 is real. It has surfaced in the news for over a decade, quickly fading from the headlines each time a more exciting news story captivates our attention. It’s so real, that 100 million chickens and turkeys have been put down to try and slow the spread of the disease. I do question whether that is the right response, however. I think a better approach would be to quarantine the infected birds and see if any of them produce a natural antibody in response to the virus so that we could then develop a breed of chickens that are naturally immune to the virus (or perhaps develop a traditional vaccine). I’m afraid science doesn’t work that way anymore. It seems that we’d rather bioengineer an mRNA vaccine than derive one the old fashioned way.

They say Avian Flu is transmitted via migratory birds and can travel from flock to flock (and perhaps to cattle too). Why don’t we see migratory birds dying of Bird Flu? Because they’re not locked up in factory farms!

At Amber Oaks Ranch, we try to raise our animals in accordance with nature – not in opposition to her. Our animals are not subject to overcrowded pens, with fouled water; forced to breathe toxic air. Our animals roam freely out in the open, enjoying plenty of sunlight and exercise, whereas factory farmed animals live in crowded conditions that breed disease – to the point that they have to administer subtherapeutic antibiotics just to keep them alive.

We do not vaccinate any of our animals. This is not to say that vaccines and antibiotics do not have a place, but we believe that healthy animals have a healthy immune system and with proper care can recover from most any ailment. In truth, we’ve had to administer antibiotics to a sickly calf or two, but we quickly realized the error of our ways. We were working against nature by having calves born in January and February – during the wettest, coldest months. Once we moved our calving to late March and April, we had much healthier calves. Likewise, we do not run chickens during the coldest and hottest months of the year.

Of course factory farms are just that – factories. They operate all year long, maximizing profit over animal welfare. To them, it’s more cost effective to dope all the animals up on drugs than it would be to provide a healthy environment where the animals can thrive. Of course this leads to all kinds of downstream effects, not the least of which is antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, which the CDC has identified as a crisis – calling them Superbugs. But instead of working with nature, they turn to the laboratory and develop lab grown meat substitutes, or worse – gene editing “vaccines”.

Perhaps Dr Mercola has his tin foil hat strapped on a bit too tight, or perhaps he’s on to something. Maybe there’s something more sinister at work. Either way, we will continue to strive to work with nature, focusing on animal welfare from the soil to the soul.

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