Students who were looking forward to raising chickens and turkeys for this year’s Santa Barbara County Fair will have to make other plans.
The fair canceled this summer’s poultry exhibitions after the state veterinarian indefinitely banned poultry and dairy cow exhibitions at fairs and other shows because of the current bird flu epidemic. County Fair Livestock Superintendent Hailey Rose Switzer said that it’s disappointing, but she was glad the California Department of Agriculture (CDFA) announced it early enough that most kids haven’t purchased their projects yet.
“It’s a super bummer, but it’s a super easily spread disease, so we are definitely following the CDFA’s ruling and are not going to host one,” Switzer said. “It is a contagious disease that would then turn into a much bigger problem for many of our exhibitors.”
Since August 2024, H5N1 avian influenza has been detected in more than 700 dairy herds and 60 poultry flocks in the state, impacting more than 15 million birds with new dairies and flocks being detected, according to a Jan. 7 letter from State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones. The virus is often fatal in poultry.
The Santa Barbara County Fair doesn’t have dairy cow exhibitions, Switzer said, but students entered 300 poultry projects at last year’s fair. That includes turkeys and chickens for meat and for breeding.
Students in 4-H, the FFA, and Grange usually purchase their fair projects in May or June, said Ramon Estrada, the small animal leader for the Orcutt-Sisquoc Grange. Small animals include rabbits and poultry.
For younger club members, small animal projects are their only options for the county fair. Older club members often raise meat chickens and turkeys to sell at the fair and help pay for the cost of raising a larger animal (such as sheep or cow), which are a larger investment of time and resources, Estrada said.
“A lot of kids do depend on that part of the fair,” he said. “It’s pretty important for these kids because, for one, it teaches them responsibility … because it gives these kids responsibility on how to take care of an animal and how to stay organized and [how to track] how much money they’re spending.”
But avian flu takes a while to go away, he said, adding that he has birds at home for egg production. His family is making sure that they don’t come into contact with other flocks. The problem, though, is that wild birds are also spreading the virus, he said.
The disease spreads through wild bird species, the state vet’s letter said, “through movement of infected or exposed birds, direct or indirect contact with infected wild and domestic birds” or contact with the virus on surfaces like hands, clothing, or fur of other animals.
“We will continue to assess the threat over the next few months and rescind this ban if the situation changes,” the letter stated.
This isn’t the first time the fair has canceled its poultry shows due to an infectious disease. In 2019, the fair canceled the event to prevent the spread of Newcastle disease, a contagious respiratory disease that’s often fatal in poultry.
This article appears in Jan 23 – Feb 2, 2025.