A compulsory housing order for poultry and captive birds, to protect them from the risk of avian influenza, has been announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon.
The new rules will come into effect on Monday, November 10th, 2025.
Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has also announced mandatory housing measures for all kept birds and poultry, which will come into effect from midnight tonight.
DAERA said that it made the decision to mitigate against any incursion of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) into domestic poultry sector and follows the recent suspect cases of avian influenza at two commercial poultry premises near Pomeroy and Lisnaskea.
According to Minister Heydon, the decision is due to the increased risk of avian influenza to our poultry.
He said: "I am taking action to reduce the threat to our industry and to our poultry farmers’ livelihoods. Poultry and captive birds must, from Monday 10 November, be housed or confined in such a manner that they do not have access to other poultry, captive birds, or wild birds. Reducing the opportunity for contact with potentially infected wild birds, is crucial as this is one of the main ways in which the virus can spread.
“Biosecurity remains the single most effective way to prevent the virus spreading from wild birds into poultry, or between poultry flocks. All those who have poultry or kept birds must take strict precautions and exercise the highest standards of biosecurity to protect their flocks from the threat of avian influenza, and to protect the poultry sector in Ireland.
