Farm loses entire flock of hens due to bird flu outbreak

By Andrew Ramos, Jermont Terry

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    MATTESON, Illinois (WBBM) — A family-run farm in Chicago’s south suburbs was grappling Wednesday with what they said was a devastating case of bird flu.

Kakadoodle Farm in Matteson lost its entire flock of nearly 3,000 hens.

The saga at the farm began last week, when a handful of chickens started dying without any symptoms. The owners of the farm initially thought freezing temperatures were to blame, but they said it was later confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that the cause was indeed bird flu.

Kakadoodle Farm is an online farmers’ market that delivers directly to homes in and around the area. The family-owned business has been around since 2020.

Last Monday when Kakadoodle Farm owners Marty and MariKate Thomas were addressing a frozen water issue in one of the three coops, they made a grim discovery.

“So we were in there and noticed that we lost like 30 birds, and any farmer knows that you’re like, oh gosh,” said MariKate Thomas.

That same day, those 30 turned into hundreds of birds — all dead. In video provided to CBS News Chicago, the chickens seemed to be healthy just hours earlier.

After consulting with a local veterinarian, the family said the Department of Agriculture was called in. USDA officials arrived at the farm in hazmat suits to assess the situation, and they quickly determined the birds were infected with avian flu.

It is believed that the culprit was infected wild birds getting into the chicken feed.

“We tried to get like, little like bird call noises, like a little thing to try to scare them away, and that wasn’t really doing it,” said Marty Thomas.

Bird flu strain is spiking across the country

This is the latest case in what appears to be an uptick of bird flu-related deaths nationwide.

“This is a highly pathogenic virus, meaning you almost have 100% mortality rate once a bird is infected with the virus,” said Yuko Sato, an associate professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University, “so it’s devastating and, it’s a pretty widespread problem.”

Once an infection is spreading, another expert said, it can’t be stopped.

“This is a highly transmissible disease, and when the birds all live together in a single farm, there’s no way for us to stop that infection,” said University of Minnesota Avian Health Professor Carol Cardona.

More than a dozen cats in at least four states were also recently killed or sickened by bird flu after it was detected in raw food products.

From chickens to wildlife, the latest strain of bird flu is spiking. Eli Fleace, a biologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, warned that bird flu in that state has peaked in geese and other wild birds prone to hanging around water.

“This strain of avian influenza has shown to be able to infect a wider variety of animals than past strains have, and it might just be circulating in animal reservoirs that it otherwise wouldn’t have circulated in,” Fleace said.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources warns that while the public health risk from bird flu is low, those who let their pets roam have to be protective.

“It’s mostly direct contact,” said Fleace. “It’s a good idea to keep your animal, any pets, away from dead wildlife if you can.”

The bird flu epidemic is also hitting consumers right in the wallet with a jump in egg prices. A dozen eggs now cost anywhere from $4 up to $10.

The bird flu cases involving the chickens at Kakadoodle appear to be isolated. But the farm is currently on quarantine, and the owners are prohibited from raising any chickens for the next 150 days, or until June.

“These chickens were providing close to 2,000 dozen eggs a week for our marketplace, and with egg prices and market cost, it’s a huge loss,” said Kakadoodle owner MariKate Thomas.

The plan for the farm now is to get its online marketplace back up and running in the next couple of weeks.

“When bad things happen, you either ask, ‘Why me? or, ‘What’s next,'” said Kakadoodle owner Marty Thomas. “So we’re asking what’s next.”

Dr. Mark Ernst, state veterinarian for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, sent this statement:

“The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is leading the effort to monitor and manage avian influenza detections, and the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) is working closely with them. While IDOA does not discuss individual cases, APHIS maintains a website with a comprehensive view of all HPAI detections since the beginning of the outbreak in January 2022.”

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