Flu? What Flew?
Bird flu is a contagious disease caused by the Influenza A virus. This virus (H5N1) is an aquatic virus which thrives in a wet environment such as a factory farm setting. Backyard chickens are far less likely to become infected and spread this disease:
- The virus requires a moist environment to survive (manure-saturated factory farms provide the perfect wet environment). Backyard sunshine will kill the virus very quickly.
- Backyard chickens have a robust immune system, making it less likely that they will get infected in the first place. Contrast this with factory-farmed chickens, raised in an unnatural environment with no sunlight, no exercise, no fresh air, utilizing antibiotics and pesticides.
- Factory farms keep the birds in close contact with each other, increasing the likelihood of the virus quickly spreading to the entire factory population.
Source: Dr. Michael Greger
For more information along with a detailed list of references, see this article: