Bird Flu Uncertainty Weighs on NZ Poultry Farmers as Biosecurity Costs Mount

Jim Brown has spent the last three to four years getting his egg farm ready for a disease that, so far, has not reached a single commercial flock in New Zealand. That has not made the waiting any easier. Brown runs Kaimai Eggs in the Bay of Plenty with his wife, Karlene, and he says the uncertainty is taking a heavy mental toll on farmers and their staff.

The cause is highly pathogenic avian influenza. New Zealand's first confirmed case was the H7N6 strain at an Otago egg farm in December 2024, and it was quickly contained. The strain now circulating around the world, H5N1, was first found here in a wild bird in Wellington in July 2026. Three wild bird detections have been recorded in total. No cases have been reported in poultry.

Those three detections were enough to push Kaimai Eggs to tighten its precautions, particularly during the peak Arctic migratory bird season, which runs from September to March. The farm has set up separate biosecurity zones for people and for birds, with cleaning procedures between indoor and outdoor areas and the poultry sheds. It can also keep birds indoors if the risk climbs too high. Brown says the detections reinforced the seriousness of the threat among staff and led the business to finish its planned biosecurity improvements.

The farm covers 50 hectares, and 80% of its chickens are free-range, with the rest barn-raised. That is where the difficulty lies. "We are doing everything we can to look after the birds and we have to put them first," Brown said, "but it's quite hard to stop a wild bird flying over a free range paddock." Of the wait itself he said: "It's not a very healthy way to live, wondering when it could all be over, so we're following it really closely."

The business dates to 2011, when Otto and Vicky McGirr left dairy farming in the central North Island for the Bay of Plenty. Their daughter Karlene and her husband Jim returned from Europe when covid-19 hit in 2020, planning to help for a few weeks. They stayed and helped grow the operation. Kaimai Eggs now employs about 30 people, raises its own chickens from day-old chicks, and supplies cafes, supermarkets and farmers markets across Waikato, the Bay of Plenty and further north.

Brown says an outbreak would cost far more than the birds. Farmers would face lost income, continuing debt repayments, restocking costs and the loss of existing production. "What do you do with your customers, your chicken feed, no chickens, farm infrastructure and staff members, with no income and a long expensive route to re-population?" he asked. He also pointed to the wider stakes: according to the Egg Producers Federation of NZ, New Zealanders eat an average of 229 eggs per person each year, and he says any drop in supply could affect access to affordable protein.

Fiona MacMillian, executive director of both the Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand and the Egg Producers Federation, urged farmers to watch their flocks for signs of illness and to monitor wild birds for disease. She noted there have been no further H5 detections since August and no sign of the virus in any egg or poultry flock, but said good biosecurity remains the best defence.

Last month the government published the Biosecurity (Avian Biosecurity Control Programme Standards – H5N1) Regulations 2026. They require commercial poultry operators to have a biosecurity programme to protect their birds from H5N1. MacMillian said the two industry bodies will update their guidelines to help members comply.

Brown supports stronger measures, but says the costs fall in two places: physical upgrades to facilities, and the ongoing administrative work of compliance. "I just feel especially for some of the really small producers," he said. "It's a massive cost for them." What to watch next is whether any new wild bird detections follow, and how smaller farms cope with the new requirements.