FREE-RANGE poultry farms have been forced to take measures to protect their flocks against a dangerous strain of bird flu circulating in Europe.

Government chief vet Nigel Gibbens has declared a “prevention zone” for England after a type of highly pathogenic avian flu, H5N8, was found in dead wild birds in 14 countries including Poland, Germany and France.

Although no cases have been found in the UK, commercial and individual bird keepers have been told to keep their birds inside, or take steps to separate them from wild birds, for 30 days.

Keepers are also being urged to reinforce precautionary measures such as disinfecting clothing and equipment and making sure feed and water is not accessible to wild birds to prevent infection.

Meanwhile, Public Health England (PHE) has reassured people that the threat to humans from the bird flu strain remains very low.

Poultry farms in Dorset and the New Forest say while they have been ‘inconvenienced’ by the measures, it is important to take precautions.

Anna Hanks, an education manager at the Countryside Education Trust in Beaulieu, which keeps a range of poultry and provides free-range eggs, explained they had experienced more difficulty keeping some birds indoors.

“As a residential centre, it’s more important for us to adhere to these measures. We have chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese, which all need to be housed inside so wild birds can’t get in.

“It’s been difficult for us sorting accommodation for the larger birds. We didn’t want to close the stable doors where the turkeys are kept for animal welfare reasons. To get around this, we have built an ‘indoor door’ out of chicken mesh so we can keep the main doors open for ventilation but wild birds can’t fly in.”

Sue Atyeo, of Noah’s Ark Farm in New Milton, said their birds always go out in the day but would have to “adjust” for the next few weeks until the restrictions were lifted.

“We’re not used to taking precautions like this, but the chickens are very adaptable. We accept the fact this is a precaution, and it’s only the migrating birds causing the problem.”

Simon Barton, chairman of the South West poultry board for the National Farmers Union (NFU) said producers of both eggs and poultry meat will be able to retain their free-range status for a period of up to twelve weeks due to it being a “mandatory housing requirement”.