Joy Dolcini thought the worst of the bird flu was over. She could let her birds out of the barn and stop donning a hazmat suit and disposable booties every time she fed them.
But on Tuesday, bad news popped up on the United States Department of Agriculture website: a new outbreak had infected a half-million birds at a Sonoma County egg-laying operation, uncomfortably close to her Chileno Valley farm.
The outbreak was the fifth reported since late November in Sonoma County, where more than 1 million birds have been euthanized.
“This is really frustrating,” said Ms. Dolcini, who tends 1,700 hens at her family’s ranch. “I was so thankful that maybe we were almost out of the woods.”
Marin poultry farmers like Ms. Dolcini have been on high alert since the first of the recent Sonoma outbreaks was confirmed on Nov. 27. One week after that, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency.
“We’re keeping a close eye on things,” said Stefan Parnay, director of Marin County’s Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures. “Our poultry industry is on pins and needles.”
No outbreaks have so far struck Marin’s commercial poultry farms, which accounted for $23 million in revenue in 2022. But nine wild birds in Marin have tested positive for the current strain, a virulent variety called highly pathogenic avian influenza, since the beginning of last year. Six of those were identified in 2023, the most recent on March 15.
Among those infected were two great-horned owls, two geese, a raven, a turkey vulture and a red-tailed hawk.
Statewide, more than 4 million commercially raised birds have been euthanized since the outbreak began in the Carolinas and soon spread across the country. The virus has now been reported in 47 states, according to the U.S.D.A. More than 72 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks have been affected.
“It’s highly contagious and it spreads like wildfire,” Mr. Parnay said. “If you walk in an area where there’s excrement on the ground and get it on your boots, you can spread it. Canada geese flying over a poultry operation can spread it through their excrement or mucus. Any of the different liquids that come from an animal can spread it.”
Federal and state agriculture officials recommend that poultry farmers implement a variety of measures to protect their flocks. This includes keeping poultry indoors and making sure that any trucks or equipment that enter the property have been cleaned and sanitized. Workers should don fresh personal protective gear before moving from one chicken house to another—a precaution meant to protect the birds, not people, who are highly unlikely to get bird flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Biosecurity is the key,” Mr. Parnay said.
Ms. Dolcini markets chicken, quail and duck eggs under the label Farmer Joy and sells them at farmers markets in Larkspur and San Francisco. Her ranch has been in the family for six generations.
“The state has stepped in and given us a lot of rules we need to follow,” she said. “We have to scrub our boots before entering each barn and we have to wear disposable booties. We need to be very careful to wash any equipment that might move from house to house.”
She’s used up a batch of 25 hazmat suits and just ordered 48 more from Amazon. She’s going through about 30 pairs of booties a day.
Her hens, who are accustomed to coming and going from their barns each day, have been confined day and night.
For small producers without enclosed spaces for their birds, biosecurity poses an even greater challenge.
Anna Erickson has 900 hens at Hands Full Farm in Tomales. She doesn’t have any place to keep them indoors.
“The best thing you can do is to prevent wild birds from coming onto your property where the chickens are and keep your chickens from going out where wild birds have been,” Ms. Erickson said. “So, in my case, there isn’t much I can do.”
As a fifth-generation rancher, she’s accustomed to the never-ending challenges of life on a farm. “It’s just another thing to worry about,” she said. “But, hey, that’s ranching.”
Her operation is located 500 yards from the Sonoma County line.
“As something like this goes, it’s very close,” Ms. Erickson said. “And with this kind of illness, you don’t just have a sick chicken here or there, you have a whole lot of dead chickens all at once. It’s very worrisome.”
Even backyard farmers with just a handful of birds should take precautions, she added.
One the 37 outbreaks at commercial flocks in California struck Liberty Ducks, a Sonoma County company that sells its product to high-end restaurants around the Bay Area. The business was just emerging from the challenges posed by Covid-19, which shut down restaurants and reduced demand. Its owners have started a GoFundMe campaign to keep the operation on its feet.
“It has been an honor to be truly from our farm to your table,” their appeal states. “Right now, we are staring down our greatest challenge yet.”
The community has rallied to the company’s cause, donating more than $160,000, nearly hitting the campaign goal of $175,000.