Poultry farmers living on the Scottish coast laid bare the emotional toil of living with the pressures of Avian Influenza (AI).
Despite doing their best to protect their flocks from the disease, some businesses and farming families have fallen victim to AI and face the bleak reality of a mandatory cull following a positive test.
Current British Free Range Egg Producers (BFREPA) chairman, Mr Baxter spoke at the annual conference and revealed the brutal realities his family and staff experienced after one of their 12 units tested positive for AI earlier this year.
Situated in Stranraer, Southeast Scotland, just sixteen miles from the Northern Irish coastline, James Baxter farms a 12-shed poultry unit with his wife Margret and three sons.
Tragically, their 196,000 laying hens were gassed after the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) confirmed the worst in January.
Despite rigorous biosecurity, they believe the cause of the outbreak is from the only house that has solar panels fitted on the roof. Mr Baxter believes that this attracted AI-positive pigeons to the unit and their faeces melted and infected a pen of birds following a storm of snow.
The disease engulfed the shed over a few days, and despite the other 11 houses not being infected, these also required to be gassed.
It was on the journey home from a few days away from the farm when Mr Baxter received the phone call to say there was suspected AI in house seven.
Mr Baxter said: "My son Andrew rang to say there was an issue with the house, after counting seventy-nine dead hens and many others lethargic.
"There were no obvious signs of infection when looking at production levels, but there was no mistaking something was wrong. They had reduced feed and water intake, few were not laying, but if they were the eggs were shell-less, they had green-yellow diarrhoea and the symptom which confirmed our fears, the hens having red-coloured legs."
As soon as they suspected AI, they stopped two feed deliveries and an egg lorry. He believes this was a crucial step to saving money and waste.
"The 14-day timeline following this was a whirlwind," he added.
From the second day, Mr Baxter said they were under no illusions as to how serious of a situation they were in.
The farm was completely taken over and they had security on entry, PPE which became routine to wear and two doctors designated to the farm.
By the third day, the tests from APHA had confirmed AI and the shed's mortality had gone from zero to 3.3 per cent.
Any suffering hens were destroyed by two vets and by day six, the farm was invaded with staff, machinery, equipment and lorries of gas.
It only took 30 minutes to gas two houses and Mr Baxter commended how efficient and humane the process was. Following this, 20 tonnes of hen carcasses and 10 tonnes of eggs were disposed.
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By this point, another AI case had been confirmed in Fife, so the staff was skeletal to finish disposal. If something could not be disinfected in the sheds and office, it was burnt.
"Then on the fifteenth day, it was a ghost town. No hens. No security. No Machinery. The team were given a week off to take it the annihilation we had all witnessed," said Mr Baxter.
Despite the horrific scenes which unfolded on his farm, Mr Baxter is grateful he had a contingency plan in place.
"This was created with an expert and a clear head, not when I was thinking about the mass cull of birds which was about to take place on the farm.
"These plans were the difference of over £1 million insurance and secured early compensation from the Scottish Government.
"The speed of how we dealt with the situation was vital for the welfare of the suffering birds while ensuring the hens were being rightfully valued amongst the carnage. This has allowed us to secure our business and restock with pullets this coming February."
