‘The silence was the worst part’: after culling his entire flock, US poultry farmer now fears bird flu

As bird flu reshapes agriculture, small farms operate under strict rules. Just a single case could tank their business

Joshua Beebe often starts his day by cleaning the tires of trucks and cars entering his poultry farm.

We spray them off and scrub them with a brush. It's a precaution; the goal is to eliminate as many potential avenues for a pathogen to enter as possible," said the owner of Tardif Poultry Farm, located in the Connecticut countryside east of Hartford.