Aquebogue duck farm where bird flu surfaced is not closing: Hopes rest on remaining eggs

Despite some recent reports to the contrary, Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue has no plans to close its doors permanently. 

“I laid off my packing house company the day I heard of the declaration of the flu as we had nothing left,” company president Doug Corwin said in an email to the Times.Review.

“I also sent [New York State] a WARN notice,” Mr. Corwin added, referring to the state law requiring certain businesses to provide advance warning of layoffs and closures. Word of that filing appeared to prompt some news reports that the business was shuttering. “My farming company is still active and working to help get us out of the quarantine,” Mr. Corwin said.

While the farm did lose between 80,000 and 100,000 eggs in the quarantine process, eggs that were being cooled have been deemed safe. These eggs were cleaned in a chlorine solution and transported to an undisclosed, prepared location to begin incubation.

“If [an egg] doesn’t go into an incubator, it goes into a cooler, where the development stops, and then when you’re ready, you put them in an incubator. We were allowed to hold onto those,” said Mr. Corwin. “By the time they’re taken off the property, they’re relatively old. They’re not gonna hatch out very well. But we’re crossing our fingers; we’re hoping we can get enough of these eggs to maintain a place to start. It wouldn’t be enough for me to start this place, but it would be enough to try to reproduce a secondary [batch] to start this place. So that’s where we are with eggs.”

Because there will likely be too few ducks in the first hatch of eggs to start the farm, and ducks take six months to reach maturity, it will be the second round of birds that truly restart production.

“I’ve got to start as soon as possible, but I’ve got to hatch the eggs. That takes four weeks … A bird isn’t mature for six months to start laying eggs, then I have to get enough eggs from them to hatch out a second generation. Then that second generation is going have to grow at least another six months. So all this takes time,” said Mr. Corwin.

Mr. Corwin is thankful for all the support from the community and elsewhere. Beyond rebuilding his flock and maintaining duck farming on Long Island and the East End, he plans to push for a vaccine.

“It’s a big challenge, but thankfully, New York State allowed us to take this step, and we’re going to take advantage of it and try to see if we can’t start up again. Support has been phenomenal. Political supports been strong. We’re going to try again.” 

As we have reported, the recent detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) at Crescent Duck Farm has thrust bird flu concerns back to the forefront. The risk to humans remains low, but those who maintain backyard flocks should be vigilant and take extra precautions to avoid exposing their birds.

“The virus is carried through clothing, shoes, equipment, through infected feces and potentially through the air from the respiratory secretions,” said Kate Perz, 4-H Animal Science Program Coordinator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County. “All it takes is a wild bird defecating and their feces landing on the ground and a bird walking through it, or a person walking through it, and then walking into a feed store, and then someone else walking through that and then entering their poultry coop.”

Although unlikely, experts outlined precautions. “If you do keep bird baths, keep them clean, if you do have chickens, keep them separated,” said Jennifer Murray of Peconic’s Turtleback Ecological Center. “There are many precautions you can take that further minimize the chances of an already rare circumstance.”

Certain types of birds are more likely to be carriers than others, with shore birds, waterfowl, corvids (crows and ravens) and raptors (birds of prey) most at risk. This includes birds that obtain some or all of their nutrition from scavenging.

“Anything that eats carrion, like turkey vultures, could be impacted. So, anything that would have direct contact with a sick, injured or dead bird that has avian flu,” Ms. Murray said. 

Songbirds are not considered a vector for this strain of HPAI at this time, so taking down feeders is not essential. Still, out of an abundance of caution, wear gloves when filling or cleaning feeders to be hygienic. “It’s important to remember that songbirds are not affected as much as the waterfowl. Songbirds are much less likely to contract that avian flu, even if they’re at feeders,” she said..

Besides commercial poultry farmers, waterfowl hunters and wildlife rehabilitators need to take the highest precautions because they are directly responding to sick or injured animals.

For backyard chicken owners, the best practice is containment. “Keep your poultry separated from wild bird populations. If you have a lawn where geese are loafing, you know, because you’re right on the shoreline, or near the golf course or something, obviously keeping your birds contained and away from wild populations is probably safer,” Ms. Murray said.

Following the USDA recommended precautions will go a long way to prevent bird flu spreading to your home flock. To keep from losing all your birds, “try to mitigate your poultry interaction with wild birds. All it takes is one wild bird defecating into your run, and then that can spread throughout your flock,” Ms. Perz said.

“DEC is working closely with state and federal partners to reduce the spread of HPAI,” said New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar in a statement from the Suffolk County Department of Health. “People should avoid direct contact with sick or dead wild birds and poultry, especially waterfowl and raptors. DEC also advises hunters not to harvest sick or dead animals and to wear gloves when processing game,”

The New York State Department of agriculture and markets recommends that pet owners keep their pets away from wild birds and wild bird excrement/other effluence to limit their potential exposure to the virus and, as always, to consult their veterinarian for any specific concerns. 

“We want to avoid any kind of panic. A lot of times people see a sick bird, and they automatically think it’s avian flu. But it’s winter, and winter is very hard on survival, especially with the cold snap that we’ve had,” said Ms. Murray.

At the first sign of illness or sudden death, it is crucial to report the incident to authorities. To report sightings of sick or dead birds, call the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets at 518-457-3502 for domestic poultry, or the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at 518-478-2203 for wild birds. There is also a web portal for reporting to the DEC.