Livestock · Front page
UK Bird Flu Housing Order 2026: When Restrictions Land, Nation by Nation
There is no bird flu housing order 2026 in force yet. On the record of recent seasons, the next one is most likely to land in early November.
The clock on bird flu housing orders is one every poultry keeper should already be working to, not waiting for. Britain’s self-declared freedom from HPAI on 18 May 2026 and the lifting of the last GB-wide prevention zone on 4 June 2026 give a useful breathing window, but that window closes fast once autumn migration gets underway and the first wild bird positives start turning up on the Defra dashboard.
Last season ran to 100 confirmed H5N1 cases across the UK, which is the sort of figure that sharpens the mind about whether your housing is genuinely ready. Worth checking now whether pop-holes seal properly, whether range netting will stand up to a determined fox trying to get at confined birds, and whether your contingency plan covers feed, water and egg collection if birds are suddenly indoors for weeks rather than days.
Watch your APHA alerts from late October onwards. If a prevention zone drops in the first half of November, as recent form suggests it will, keepers who have already run a dry rehearsal will sleep a lot better than those scrambling to adapt on day one.
