“We are confronted with the facts every day,” sighs the chicken keeper. “It’s really, really quiet outside. We walk around the yard asking the question: what are we going to do now?”
There is great sadness now that Myrna and Jan have lost all their chickens for the second time. So big, in fact, that they doubt whether they will adopt new chicks. “We don’t want to go through this a third time.”
“It will be about three months before we can get new chickens. And then the question is whether we can get them,” Myrna explains. “Due to bird flu, far fewer eggs are being hatched at other companies. Large companies take precedence, hobbyists receive second. The scarcity will come.”
Varying reactions
As if the drama wasn’t complete, the couple is also confronted with nasty reactions. “I read that people think bird flu doesn’t exist at all,” says Myrna. “You are not culled because they are ‘bullying the farmer’. Those animals are sick and will not get better.” She tries not to let it affect her too much. “Luckily I have a wide back and it slides off easily.”
Regular customers and acquaintances of the couple are standing up for the affected poultry farmers. “They have stood up for us and said: ‘We know these people, just act normal’. We are very happy with that. We also feel very supported by all the sympathetic messages from people. They have strengthened us.”