Bird flu hit a Solano backyard flock. What hen owners should do

Bird flu has reached a backyard flock in Solano County. The county said on Monday, Nov. 9, that highly pathogenic avian influenza turned up in wild birds and in one household's poultry, and that the flock was culled to stop the spread, the Daily Republic reported. The county's agriculture office says the wild birds included Canada geese.

Neither the county nor the state said where the flock was. That leaves every hen owner from Vallejo to Dixon with the same question, and the answer is the same everywhere: assume the virus is in your area this winter, and keep wild birds away from yours.

This is also the time of year when a lot of people decide whether a backyard flock is worth it. In Vacaville, where city code allows up to nine hens on a standard lot, Houseberry data for Vacaville puts the typical home at about $587,100 in October 2026.

What to do this week if you keep hens

Solano County Agriculture Commissioner Ed King told the Daily Republic that owners should assume their birds are at risk if they are not secured and kept apart from wild birds. Fall migration brings wild waterfowl through the Suisun Marsh and the farm ponds of the county every year, and they are the usual carriers.

The practical steps come from the state Department of Food and Agriculture and the county:

1. Put a roof on the run. Netting or solid cover keeps wild bird droppings out, which is the main way the virus gets in.

2. Get rid of standing water your birds can reach, and do not let them share water with ducks or geese.

3. Keep the same pair of shoes and clothes for the coop, and disinfect boots on the way in and out.

4. Limit who handles the birds. Wash hands with soap before and after.

5. Clean the coop on a schedule and do not borrow or lend equipment.

Watch for sudden deaths with no other signs, birds that stop eating or drinking, lethargy, swelling or discoloration of the comb and wattles, or stumbling. Isolate any sick bird and call a vet or the state hotline at 866-922-2473. The county agriculture office is at (707) 784-1310.

Our advice is simple. We would not give up a backyard flock over this. We would cover the run this week.

How many hens can you keep in Solano County?

The rules vary a lot from city to city, and they matter if you are buying a house with a coop already in the yard.

Vacaville's rule is the most generous for a typical tract home. A 6,000-square-foot lot gets six hens, and the coop can be six feet tall, plus a foot for each foot it sits back from the property line. Vallejo's limit of 10 applies regardless of lot size, according to a summary of the municipal code, but the coop setbacks rule out a lot of small yards. Fairfield's limit of three birds is the tightest of the three, by the same site's reading of the Fairfield code. Check with the city before building anything.

Solano's three biggest cities are priced close together. Houseberry's October 2026 figures put the typical home at about $587,100 in Vacaville, about $579,000 in Fairfield and about $530,700 in Vallejo. All three are down slightly from a year earlier.

Vacaville scores 4.2 out of 5 on Houseberry's safety measure, the highest of the three. It also allows the most hens.

One case in a backyard flock does not change what a house is worth. It does change what a sensible owner does in November. Cover the run, keep the geese out and call the hotline at the first sudden death. If you are shopping for a yard with room for a coop, compare the Vacaville neighborhoods on Houseberry's Vacaville ranking.

Sources

• Daily Republic, Avian influenza detected in wild birds, domestic poultry in Solano, Nov. 10, 2026
• Solano County, Agriculture Department avian influenza notice
• California Department of Food and Agriculture, avian influenza alerts and biosecurity guidance
• City of Vacaville, chicken keeping rules