I kept hoping the warm weather would get here before avian bird flu did, but alas, both cool wet weather and bird flu are headed our way.

Things you can do to minimize the risk:

• stop free-ranging. Sad, I know, but better bored than dead.

• cover your runs with tarps to keep overhead poops out.

• line the exterior fencing with blueberry netting to keep the little birds out.

• don’t let anyone on your farm, and if this is not doable, make them wear booties and stay as far away as possible.

• wash your hands more often.

• launder your farm clothes more often than usual.

• put out a tub of bleachy water to rinse your boots before and after entering your chicken area. Doesn’t do any good to cover your runs if you are going to track in wild goose poop from your yard.

• follow the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s “Washington Bird Flu Updates 2022” Facebook group to keep informed.

I am a Hope for the Best and Plan for the Worst kind of person. So with that in mind, I am hatching every egg they lay, hoping that I end up with surplus chicks, but prepared if they need to be my replacement flocks. I get teary just thinking about it.