Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 501 D.W. Brooks Drive, Athens, GA 30605, USA.
Daniel B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 E. Green St., Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Epidemiol Infect. 2022 May 5;150:e102. doi: 10.1017/S0950268822000851.
Backyard chickens are increasingly popular, and their husbandry varies widely. How backyard chickens are housed may influence the accessibility of chicken feed and water to wild birds, and thus, the contact rates between both groups. Increased contacts have implications for pathogen transmission; for instance, Newcastle disease virus or avian influenza virus may be transmitted to and from backyard chickens from contaminated water or feed. Given this potentially increased pathogen risk to wild birds and backyard chickens, we examined which wild bird species are likely to encounter backyard chickens and their resources. We performed a supplemental feeding experiment followed by observations at three sites associated with backyard chickens in North Georgia, USA. At each site, we identified the species of wild birds that: (a) shared habitat with the chickens, (b) had a higher frequency of detection relative to other species and (c) encountered the coops. We identified 14 wild bird species that entered the coops to consume supplemental feed and were considered high-risk for pathogen transmission. Our results provide evidence that contact between wild birds and backyard chickens is frequent and more common than previously believed, which has crucial epidemiological implications for wildlife managers and backyard chicken owners.
后院鸡越来越受欢迎，其饲养方式也多种多样。后院鸡的饲养方式可能会影响野鸟获取鸡饲料和水的便利性，从而影响两者之间的接触率。接触增加会对病原体传播产生影响；例如，新城疫病毒或禽流感病毒可能会通过受污染的水或饲料从后院鸡传播到野鸟身上，反之亦然。鉴于野鸟和后院鸡可能面临更高的病原体风险，我们研究了哪些野鸟物种可能会接触到后院鸡及其资源。我们在美国佐治亚州北部的三个与后院鸡相关的地点进行了补充喂养实验和观察。在每个地点，我们确定了以下三种与鸡共享栖息地的野鸟物种：（a）与鸡有更高的检测频率相对其他物种，以及（c）进入鸡舍的野鸟。我们发现了 14 种进入鸡舍取食补充饲料的野鸟物种，它们被认为是传播病原体的高风险物种。我们的研究结果表明，野鸟与后院鸡之间的接触是频繁的，比以前认为的更为常见，这对野生动物管理者和后院鸡饲养者具有重要的流行病学意义。
