![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/bird-flu-east-anglian-farmers-rubbish-new-government-support/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/127429417_microsoftteams-image-116.png&description=Image source, Qays Najm/BBCImage caption, Alaistaire Brice does not think there will be any free-range poultry in East Anglia until a bird flu vaccine is introducedPoultry farmers in East Anglia have brushed off the government's latest support package to help them limit the spread of avian flu, branding it "woolly" and "lukewarm".It said this would provide "certainty".A total of 214 positive cases have been picked up by Defra in the last year and at least 4.6m birds have been culled or have died as a result of the last two avian flu seasons.The virus was again detected at commercial premises in Saxmundham, Suffolk, and near Attleborough, Norfolk, over the weekend.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Farmers in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex must keep flocks indoors to limit the spread of avian flu"It's very woolly," said Alistaire Brice, who owns 150,000 chickens for the Havensfield Happy Hens business in Hoxne, Suffolk, and who is yet to experience a positive case."It's not going to make a great deal of difference because the time frame between diagnosis, and the birds being killed, is still too long."The improved measures mean compensation reflects the size of the farmer's stock at the point government decides to cull, rather than at the end of culling.Owners, however, have pointed out that entire flocks can die in the time between reporting the suspected case and the testing.Image caption, The eastern part of the prevention zone covers all of Norfolk and Suffolk and nine of the more easterly districts in Essex"We're at breaking point and we can't carry on," said Mr Brice, who is worried about competition from producers in Wales and Scotland once English farmers are told they can no longer market their eggs as free range."There's no way in the world, before there's a vaccine, that we will be able to produce free-range eggs."Defra don't see the bigger picture and the problem we will see in three months' time."East Anglia will be emptied of poultry and the shelves w){kind=link}
Poultry farmers in East Anglia have brushed off the government’s latest support package to help them limit the spread of avian flu, branding it “woolly” and “lukewarm”.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it would compensate owners at the “outset of planned culling”.
It said this would provide “certainty”.
Farmers in Norfolk, Suffolk and most of Essex are about to enter their fourth week of keeping birds indoors.
A total of 214 positive cases have been picked up by Defra in the last year and at least 4.6m birds have been culled or have died as a result of the last two avian flu seasons.