California Backyard Poultry Census

By: Myrna Cadena

Survey based and anecdotal observations demonstrate that backyard poultry ownership is increasing nationally and in California. At the same time, California's ability to provide resources to backyard poultry owners is limited. In addition, there are no effective ways to communicate with backyard poultry owners in a coordinated fashion. To address these issues, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and Cooperative Extension have made a short geo-survey (~2minutes) designed for the backyard poultry community. Results will help further clarify the location and number of backyard poultry farms in California. Furthermore, email addresses and other address information will help facilitate communication between poultry experts and backyard poultry enthusiasts. An example on the value of bridging the communication gap is being able to notify backyard poultry owners of an Avian Influenza outbreak. This will be extremely helpful in preventing another large outbreak.

 With the help of ANR's GIS experts, the Cooperative Extension website now has an interactive map linked to a survey that acts as a census embedded at http://ucanr.edu/sites/poultry/California_Poultry_Census/. Shane Feirer's, Sean Hogan's, and Robert Johnson's expertise and receptiveness towards our goal have been of incalculable value to this project. It is always a pleasure working with such as hard-working team that always takes the time to answer our questions and concerns right away.