Legal rules
An Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) is in force across the whole of England to mitigate the risk of the disease spreading amongst poultry and captive birds. The zone will be in place until further notice and will be kept under regular review.
The mandatory legal requirement for all bird keepers in England and Wales to keep their birds housed has now been lifted. However, it is still a mandatory legal requirement for all bird keepers to follow strict biosecurity measures to help protect their flocks from the threat of avian flu.
Who the rules apply to
Keepers with more than 500 birds will need to restrict access for non-essential people on their sites, workers will need to change clothing and footwear before entering bird enclosures and site vehicles will need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly to limit the risk of the disease spreading.
Backyard owners with smaller numbers of poultry (including chickens, ducks and geese) must also take steps to limit the risk of the disease spreading to their animals.
Poultry register
If you own, or are responsible for, poultry flocks of 50 or more birds (not necessarily of the same species) and even if your premises are only stocked for part of the year, then you must, within one month of their arrival at your premises, register your flocks.
For poultry flocks of fewer than 50 birds, whilst the law does not require you to register them, we still encourage you to do so as this means we can contact you quickly if there is an outbreak of disease.