Alberta’s poultry producers are working through the worst avian flu season in years.

Scott Olson has been through it twice before.

The Wetaskiwin-area turkey farmer lost his 10,000-bird flock in the spring of 2022, when the wild geese migration passed over, then again when they returned in the fall.

Now he is dealing with his third outbreak and third cull.

Olson is again pressure-washing his two large barns — disinfecting them as he awaits an inspection — and preparing to restart a recertified operation after Christmas with new hatchlings.

“It’s such a bad disease,” said Olson, also a director with Alberta Turkey Producers.

“We work with a stamp-out policy, essentially so we’re not affecting our neighbours … It’s like a fire: you’re just trying to put the fire out.”

Olson’s was one

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