Lee Madanat the Somerset Levels

BBC Around 30 white ducks drinking water from a rectangular metal basin outdoors. They are on a patchy of muddy land which is surrounded by black netting. — Cracknell’s Farm has been ordered to protect its ducks and chickens with netting to help prevent the spread of bird flu

A poultry farmer has warned that bird flu will “decimate the industry” if the government does not roll out a vaccine soon.

Jeff Cracknell was ordered to put up nets around his flock on the Somerset Levels in a bid to reduce the spread of avian influenza.

This rule, and others, apply to his farm because it is in an official bird flu surveillance zone. But he doesn’t believe such measures are effective enough.

“You’re not going to eliminate bird flu, because the wild population have got it,” Cracknell said. “We need to just look at a vaccine.”

Jeff Cracknell has been farming for more than 50 years

Jeff Cracknell outdoors on a misty grey day. He is wearing a dark blue wax jacket and a yellow tie with orange details. He has grey hair and dark eyebrows, and is looking at the camera with a stern expression. — Jeff Cracknell has been farming for more than 50 years

The disease is highly contagious among birds and can be passed on to other animals, and in rare cases, humans.

The strain is thought to have emerged in China in 1996, before spreading around the world.

Cracknell, who has been farming for more than 50 years, said an eradication of avian influenza would be difficult due to wild birds.

“The way it’s going, they’re knocking out breeder flocks and it’s going to be difficult buying day-old chicks. That’s going to decimate the industry,” he said.

“We’re battling the weather, we’re battling the health of the birds, we’re battling just about everything.”

The birds at Cracknell’s Farm – about 250 ducks and 1,000 chickens – have not yet tested positive.

But in recent months, a large neighbouring farm near Ashcott experienced an outbreak and was ordered to cull all of its poultry.

Cracknell keeps hundreds of ducks and chickens

Farmer Jeff Cracknell stnding in a field beside a outhouse with a corrugated metal roof. He is leaning over and touching one of his nets, where chickens are roaming inside. It is a damp and misty day and the field is surrounded by trees. — Cracknell keeps hundreds of ducks and chickens

The government set up a one-mile disease control zone around that farm, as well as a 10-mile (16km) surveillance zone, which Cracknell’s Farm falls inside.

That zone meant he had to put up his nets.

“It was really annoying because I was running up to Christmas and I suddenly had all this extra work to do when I didn’t need any extra work,” Cracknell added.

Vaccine trial

The government has told the BBC a vaccine trial using turkeys could begin as early as this spring, in Weybridge, Surrey. It is due to last for 24 weeks.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We will be running trials in turkeys to help us understand whether vaccines could play a role in protecting UK poultry flocks from avian influenza, alongside strong biosecurity measures that remain our first line of defence.

“It’s important that we run a trial first to ensure vaccines can be safely and effectively deployed whilst also generating valuable data on how they perform under real farming conditions in the UK.”

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