The couple are responsible for the 360,000 broiler chickens housed inside the farm's eight sheds. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Having been in operation for just over a year, Brink's new broiler chicken farm in Maramarua, about 70km south of Auckland, has been designed to be leading-edge.
The eight sheds, which house the 360,000 chickens, sit among the lush green pasture of surrounding dairy farms. Fences and waterways have been planted in new natives and there is plenty of room for the chickens to roam and forage in a free-range setting.
However, the native plantings are a double-edged sword, attracting wild birds to the area which risks the potential for transmission of avian flu to the farm's chickens.
It's partly why Len and Ashleigh Wilson, who together manage the farm, are grateful to have state of the art facilities which mean they can happily keep the chickens comfortable inside the sheds.
"I'm a firm believer in 'you just control what you can control'," Len told Country Life when we visited last month. "We can't really control to a certain degree the path of a wild bird. As you can see we've got the forestry, just at the back of us we've got a native block on the neighbour's property. So we really try to control what we can control here."
Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts.
Earlier this week avian influenza (HPAI) - otherwise known as bird flu - was found on a free range chicken farm in North Otago. It's the first time a highly pathogenic strain of the virus has been found in New Zealand.
The H7N6 strain found at Hillgrove Egg Farm, belonging to Mainland Poultry, near Moeraki, differs from the deadly H5N1 strain that has been circulating the world and which the New Zealand poultry industry has spent the past few months preparing for.
The Poultry Industry Association and the Egg Producers Federation executive director Michael Brooks said the spread of the H5N1 overseas has led to heightened concerns about a possible outbreak here.
"We have been in peace time in New Zealand," he explained. "We're unique in the world, we're free from the major poultry diseases. This is a real change in the system, we're going to have to go to a different level of biosecurity.
"Now that it's endemic in wild birds, got into Antarctica, the threat is potentially from the south."
The Ministry for Primary Industries has been working closely with those in the industry to mitigate the impact of any bird flu outbreak.
Brooks said the free-range and egg layer parts of the sector were more vulnerable, as the birds spent more time outside where there is a risk of coming in contact with wild birds.
"People really need to understand the potential risks it could pose to the industry," he said. "Make sure your biosecurity is really good to stop it getting in."
Though set up to be a free range farm, the chickens remain inside for now, separated from wild bird populations which may carry disease. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Len has taken a stoic approach to the heightened risk and has "faith" in the biosecurity measures in place on the Maramarua farm.
With the birds confined in the sheds, biosecurity measures are focused on "defending the shed".
"Apart from wild birds, visitors seem to be the big risk," Len explained. "Our biosecurity measures are really at that point. Once you're at the shed, defend the shed. That's our primary focus, our only focus."
This shed, measuring 144 metres by 20 metres, is home to 45,000 15-day old broiler chooks. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Ashleigh agreed, adding biosecurity started with controlling visitors to the site and staff movements.
Before being given the opportunity to see these biosecurity measures in action, I was required to sign a biosecurity declaration form confirming I had not had any same-day contact with other poultry, birds, pigs, or laboratories which process poultry or pig samples. I was also asked to confirm that I had not been recently suffering from any illness which could impact the chickens.
Arriving on farm, I was required to sanitise my car tyres before continuing on to the property where I also sanitised my boots and donned the required PPE (personal protective equipment) gear - overalls, hairnet, gloves and booties.
Each shed has been bird-proofed to prevent wild birds making their way inside. To manage the people risk, each shed has its own house boots which never ever exit the shed, Len explained. This helps minimise risk of spreading disease across the farm.
Fresh air is circulated throughout the shed though any openings are fully birdproofed to prevent possible transmission from wild bird populations. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Inspections are carried out by farm staff twice a day, seven days a week. The checks take between 45 minutes to an hour and involve walking around the perimeter assessing the condition and behaviour of the chickens.
"When you come into a shed you're looking at the shed itself, what the birds are doing, whether they're eating, feeding, whether they're all huddled together or all up against the walls," explained veterinarian Kerry Mulqueen, who joined Country Life during the farm tour.
"You're just looking at the birds' behaviour. The birds will tell you if they're happy or if they're not feeling so well."
He said good biosecurity measures were about people like Len, Ashleigh and their team completing the twice daily checks.
While the industry has made efforts to prepare, Mulqueen said it was about managing biosecurity risks at the farm level and taking personal responsibility.
"You can manage your birds so you keep HPAI out of your birds, and out of your flock."
More information: You can find more information about the current outbreak, as well as advice from the Ministry of Primary Industries here.
Advice for those with chickens, can be found here.