Does Utah Need Drones And Lasers to Battle Bird Flu?

Avian flue or bird flu can decimate chicken and turkey operations, and Utah has not been immune to the problem. Now a technology out of Japan offers a solution to keep infected wild birds from interacting with farming operations.

Using the Latest Technology to Protect Commercial Farms

The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food reported 34, 798 quarantined turkeys in Sanpete County in 2025. These infections mainly came from waterfowl carrying the disease as they migrate across the country.

Bird flu is highly contagious so a flock of infected geese or even crows that come near a poultry farm can result in the death of hundreds and thousands of birds. They have tried different ways to keep wild birds from barns like using noise and decoys.

Pretecting poultry from Avian Flu is going high tech. Photo by Maria Lin Kim on Unsplash

A new idea they are using in Japan may offer a solution. They are using drones equipped with lasers to drive wild birds away from poultry farms.

Laser Draw the Interest of Cats but Scare Birds

What turns out to be a simple safe solution is a drone that shines red and green lasers on the ground. These colors are the most likely to cause the birds to scatter. It has also been effective in keeping other animals away like wild boars.

The drone can quickly be deployed and even if it shines the laser at a person or domesticated animal it won’t do any harm. This simple set up could save producers thousands of dollars in losses.

Don’t be surprised if you start to see laser light shows in the rural areas of Utah. It’s just a drone quietly doing its part to keep the food supply healthy.

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