Avian Influenza: Disease Control
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect small bird keepers in relation to avian flu regulations.
Answered by Dame Angela Eagle
Steps being taken by the Government to protect small bird keepers from disproportionate impacts of avian influenza regulations, include:
- Psittacines (including parrots and budgerigars) and passerines (including canaries and finches) which are fully housed in a dwelling or in specialist bird houses with no access to the open air are exempt from the requirement to register with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
- For the first time in 2025/26, housing measures in England and Wales were not mandatory for keepers with fewer than 50 birds who do not sell or give away eggs, poultry products or live birds.
- The mandatory biosecurity measures that are introduced through an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone are tiered to ensure that the measures are proportionate. The threshold for the most stringent of these measures is keeping 500 birds.
To support small bird keepers in achieving good biosecurity, APHA circulates advice and guidance targeted at small keepers, through email and social media, including a weekly biosecurity tip.
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