This post is going to be about my own experience with the AF as well as giving you information I gathered from other people around me that experience this nasty disease that is truly devastating for a lot of people. I am going to tell you how to tell if your bird might be affected, how, when and much more. I hope that by writing this, it will help a lot of you who might be affected by this. While there is no cure for it, there are tips that can prevent it and ways to save some birds. I hope that my knowledge and experience can help you in the future. Feel free to spread the word as much as you can so we can all help each other.

Until 2022, I had never heard of the Flu. I was living in Wyoming at the time, I had several geese and ducks and my birds were never affected by the AF. Fast forward a couple months later, I moved to Alaska. Alaska being the last place one would ever think of having the AF. The truth is, anywhere that there are migratory birds, the flu will be also, especially with wild Mallards duck. They are the most common carriers, show no symptoms at all and yet, carry the disease from one to another. The AF is airborne and it is extremely contagious, so contagious that it can wipe an entire flock of birds within a matter of 12 to 48 hours. I moved to Alaska, not really thinking about the flu. Unfortunately, we left in a hurry from Wyoming, couldn’t bring much with us, and instead of having my 5 geese go through the traumatic experience of flying cargo, I found them a sanctuary in Wyoming, a nice man who already had a rescue and cared for over a hundred birds. I knew they would be in good hands with Pastor John, otherwise, these birds being my babies, I would never have accepted to rehome them.

I still brought two ducks with me, that I raised from babies, in Sitka Alaska. Months later we moved to the mainland, and then settled down in one of Alaska’s bigger cities. It all started in the fall of 2022. At the time, I had Kiwi, my chinese gander, and Leo that I bought from Metzer farm. The first year was fine, because we lived in a house on 1 acre and never had wild waterfowl visiting us, until the next year. We bought Juno, Nina and Nikki from a different hatchery, in 2023. That summer, the three girls we got for the boys, were still very young. We noticed a wild female mallard coming into our backyard to feed and drink. She came everyday. I assume she noticed our house on her way to a lake one day, and saw that we had ducks and she stopped here. It’s not uncommon for wild ducks to stop where they see other ducks and then they notice food and water. We knew she was probably sitting on eggs, as that wild female mallard came back every day for about a month. Then we didn’t see her for a while. After a few months she came back with babies.

At the end of summer, we had even more wild ducks coming to visit us. I guess they do spread the word where there is food and water available, because that November, we got over 40 wild ducks coming for food and water. It never occurred to us that being in Alaska, we would get AF. We never even thought about the disease as we didn’t know much about it anyway. At the time the wild ducks came, we had over 30 ducks and 5 geese. Leo and Kiwi were our oldest. In the beginning of December 2023, that’s when it hit us, really bad. Our call, Duck Mom, had laid over 13 eggs, so we moved her inside, so she could be safe with her duckling, away from the other birds. Unfortunately, a few passed away. As the ducklings were getting older, we started noticing that some of them started having neurological problems, and we couldn’t figure out why, or what was causing it. Out of the blue, they would start spinning in circles uncontrollably. We thought that maybe they had a genetic disease that made them prone to it.. and unfortunately, we knew they couldn’t be saved so we decided to humanely put them to sleep. I was devastated and wondering what was happening. A few days later, my older, jumbo pekin duck I had brought back from Wyoming, started having pneumonia, out of the blue. She distanced herself from the other birds and was panting heavily with a fever. We didn’t know what we were dealing with at all. I never had any health problems with any of my birds.

She passed away the same day we noticed she was sick. Then another followed. We noticed that some of them looked kind of sleepy, squinting and closing their eyes a lot, not eating but drinking a lot. They would lay down a lot too. We lost more birds. I started spending hours on the internet looking for answers and trying to figure out what was going on. Metal poisoning crossed my mind, so we changed all the water well filters inside our house. One hadn’t been changed for a long time and in Alaska, a load of Iron in the groundwater is a big issue here. We thought we found the problem with the neurological issues, but that didn’t explain the pneumonia. We then lost 3 of our geese. Leo, Nina and Lily. They were all younger except Leo.

My gander Kiwi did make it, but has permanent blindness in one eye and neurological issue with his neck. Chloe, my goose, was also exposed to it, she got a cloudy eye, but she made it. I believe that they were exposed to the Low pathogenic strain. At the time our birds started passing we were wondering if they were exposed to different illnesses until we realized that wild birds can carry both strain, Low and High which would explain why some of our birds were hit with different symptoms.

They looked like they were sleepy at first, they wouldn’t move much, but no neurological issues. Then our ducks Mom, who hatched those 13 babies, her mate passed away all of sudden, followed by half of the rest of my birds, one after another. All displaying almost the same symptoms. The year after, I thought I was prepared, but unaware that Baicalin could go bad, after giving my new birds Sam, Juno and Nina Baicalin, they passed away. Not because they had Baicalin and still passed but because I firmly believe that I received a very poor product from Amazon. The Baicalin I received was dark brown as opposed to a bright yellow, almost white, or mustard colored powder. I believe the powder I got from Amazon had oxidized after being exposed to moisture and bright light from the warehouse. It was not properly packaged either. It was in a clear plastic pouch. After some time, Baicalin will oxidise and lose its antioxidant property which allows the bird to fight off the virus.

After realizing this, i bought my product elsewhere.

I started asking around. Then I matched a lot of the symptoms with Mycoplasma… but that wasn’t it. The incubation period didn’t match the time my birds started getting sick… and those symptoms matched almost exactly the AF as well as the incubation period of the virus. I started realizing that indeed, AF had just hit us. Those wild mallards that came to visit us were carriers, showing no symptoms. I asked a sanctuary and rescue for help, but the person told me that since all my birds didn’t die from it, I wasn’t hit with the AF which I now know is false. AF is very contagious and very deadly to poultry and young geese who have not yet, have time to build a stronger immune system. Just like humans, the very young and older birds are more affected by it than younger ones (Between ages 2-4 don’t seem as susceptible for waterfowl) I then found a site, where I found all my answers and found something that would help me help my birds.

The waterfowl sanctuary, in England, UK where they lost a lot of waterfowl to the Avian Flu. He looked deep into the AF, researched it and offered a solution. I contacted him once and he is a very nice gentlemen who helped me with my birds and has great knowledge of the virus. As mentioned in his article :“The H5N1 virion requires sialic acid receptors with a2,3 and so without this important value the virion will simply remain unattached and incapable of infection. Contrary to what is believed amongst the general public, not all birds are susceptible to avian flu and this is due to the cells within specific birds having compatible cells that the H5N1 virion requires.”

“Swans, geese, ducks and many seabirds have a2,3 receptors in abundance and so are highly susceptible to the virus. Pigeons for example have very few a2,3 receptors and so the virus can only infect what is available within the bird. Such birds may just feel slightly sick but fortunately for them their immune system stands a chance to fight back and make the bird resistant should it come in contact with it again.

A common symptom is for the birds to become blind and this is due to the epithelial cells on the surface of the cornea also having sialic acid a2,3 receptors. These cells become influenza producing cells and are no longer transparent and so the surface of the eye becomes cloudy, with a blue tinge. This is called Corneal Opacity.”

“One such disruptive approach is to prevent the neuraminidase from releasing the newly formed virion. Neuraminidase Inhibitors nullify the neuraminidase protein and are very effective at essentially pressing pause on the virus. If it can be paused then no further host cells get compromised and the immune system should prevail. So long as the infection is caught before the bird is too sick then they’re quite capable of recovery – and often in just a few days.”

His site is a must to be bookmarked https://www.thewaterfowlsanctuary.co.uk/articles/ai.htm

I realized that there are two strand of the Avian Flu, which explained why my birds were not all affected in the same way and showed different symptoms, from mild to severe.

Avian influenza (bird flu) strains are Influenza :

• Low Pathogenic (LPAI)
• Highly Pathogenic (HPAI) based on their severity in poultry. The most concerning current strain is H5N1 HPAI, which is causing widespread outbreaks in wild birds, poultry, and expanding to mammals, including dairy cows. While the public health risk is low, H5, H7, and H9 subtypes pose the highest risks for rare, sporadic human infections. That one is absolutely devastating.

The Low Pathogenic (LPAI) strain is the milder one, that give the birds a fever, lack of appetite, lack of exercise. These birds will often keep drinking a lot of water, but won’t be willing to eat much, which leads to starvation and that’s how the bird die. The key with these birds, is to bring them inside, separate them from the flock, keep them warm, and give them electrolytes, extra vitamins and minerals. If they are still not eating and losing too much weight, then it’s time to start tube feeding, which is fairly easier than it looks. I learned myself to save my birds.

The Highly Pathogenic (HPAI) will cause neurological problems, loss of appetite, loss of coordination, hence the bird not being able to drink and eat. They also can have pneumonia. That strain is the worst and is the one that usually takes a bird’s life within 12 to 48 hours. When a bird starts showing signs of neurological problems, it usually is unfortunately too late. Some other birds CAN survive, but with permanent health problems, like cloudy eyes, neck problems, coordination problems. Seizures can also occur in the bird with this strain. My goose Chloe had repeated seizures until I turned off the light, it stopped and she managed to recuperate as long as I kept her in a darker, warmer room. It seemed the light was triggering her seizures.

Keep in mind that if you love your birds as much as most of us do, the vet won’t help you especially if they suspect that you might be dealing with AF. There is no cure for AF. The vet won’t do much for you except keep your birds in quarantine, run an AF test and if the bird tests positive, they will put it to sleep as well as the rest of your flock. Most birds that are struck with the Low pathogenic strain survive, will have the antibodies and pass it on to their babies. Some birds are just plain resistant to it. My goose Nikki never ever got sick and she has been exposed to it several times. A lot of people unfortunately think that putting the whole flock down is the answer to this virus but it is not. Culling the healthy birds as well that present a resistance to the virus, is not the way to handle this situation, but since birds are considered livestock, it is cheaper for large breeders to put down the whole flock and get compensation for the losses. It is less problematic for them and less time consuming than using the more humane way of trying to feed them Baicalin.

Avian influenza usually spreads over winter time. The reason is the migratory birds that carry the virus asymptomatically, especially in wild ducks. Wild ducks are less susceptible to succumb to the disease and are very hardy birds during the winter, thus won’t migrate as do other migratory birds and, as they are looking for feeding source near other birds while food is scarce for them, might expose your birds as well to the virus, as early as October until mid-March. Wild ducks and Canada geese often mingle together to get food in the wild, so you might see a lot of Canada geese getting infected from the ducks and passing away from the AF that was passed on to them, especially the younger, more susceptible geese.

Natural recovery amongst the susceptible relies on the immune system alone to defend and hopefully cure the bird. Young swans and geese appear to have a poor immune response although in our observations geese cope better from a year old whereas swans struggle especially in their first years but will also battle with the virus as adults. Wild ducks are mostly resistant (or not susceptible.)

The main source of contagion is through birds feces and saliva, but can also be produced through sneezing. Most birds, especially Mallards, won’t show any symptoms of being sick and simply carry the virus until it runs its course. They DO NOT remain carriers for life, that is a myth. I’ve hatched 3 call ducks from ebay, and bought 1 duckling from a breeder and those birds, though exposed to wild mallard this year, even one that we knew for a fact was sick and as we lost one of our ducks, never got sick from the AF and we know that the rest of our flock that was exposed to it last year, didn’t make any of those ebay hatched duckling sick.

If you are looking for a cure, there is none, but there is something you can use that is highly effective in disrupting the virus and it’s called Baicalin Aka chinese skullcap (Scutellaria Baicalensis). It’s becoming more well known as we hear more about it and it does work. The key with this antioxidant is to PREVENT the disease before its protein starts disrupting the bird’s gastrointestinal tract, where the AF virus starves the bird from absorbing any food. The incubation period for avian flu is just a few days but data varies from 2-5 days to 1-14. It’s important to get Baicalin into those that are susceptible when it becomes apparent that the birds are becoming lethargic, disinterested in food, blue eyes, necks drooping etc. These are the early symptoms and it’s fair to assume that all susceptible birds in that area will have ingested the virus but may not be showing symptoms yet. Once a bird is spinning in circles or doing erratic body movements then it’s often too late and they are likely to die soon, which is what happened to a few of my birds. I spread a good amount starting in September, in their food. If the bird has the High pathogenic strain, you might have to tube feed the birds and give them the supplement in that way. If caught early, you can also prevent the cloudy eyes or blindness from becoming worse by putting some of the supplement mixed with water into their eye – No it won’t hurt them.

Baicalin doesn’t kill the virus – it stalls the spread within them, so the immune system kills the virus – and the immune system has memory – and will know how to do it next time.

Now I know that a lot of people have gone through the same traumatic experience I have and I will say that I love and cherish our bird community for sharing knowledge, information, our losses and experiences. I think that if we can get the word out about this, spread the information, share it and educate people, we will be better equipped to fight this nasty disease that often breaks our heart, leaves us devastated and completely powerless. When I went through this during my second winter in mainland Alaska, in 2023 I just broke down to my knees, crying and wondering what happened and what I could have done to save my birds. Unfortunately at the time I was unaware of the AF. Now I know and I will gladly help others who are willing to listen and share our experience and knowledge, because it’s very difficult when you lose your birds to this virus. To us pet owners, they are not livestock, meat birds, money, they are our family members, our pets, our companions. Waterfowls are intelligent, sensitive, loyal, sentient, that feel pain, loneliness, depression and are very social animals.

Here is where you can get Baicalin. I would purchase a few bags in August to make sure that you have some on hands before the migration starts and spread it on their food. Half a cup is often enough, once a week.

https://damkidsranch.com/collections/suppliments

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to leave a comment, thank you ! I hope this will help.

~Nadia Marie