2010 MN Swap Dates
- Thread starter destiny_56085
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- #52
Nope. You will need to get on a waiting list. Everything is spoken for til the end of april at least right now. Email me with phone number and approximate number you want. Amy
Amy, Thanks for the link. I will have to look into this more. I will probably call you so much about chicks that it will drive you crazy!!!!! The chicks I got from you are drop dead gorgeous. I can only hope that you will have a stray chick here and there that is not spoken for this season. Thanks so much.
Quote:
Ahh thanks Amy..it took me 38 years to find him..so you have time
Ahh thanks Amy..it took me 38 years to find him..so you have time
- Thread starter
- #55
Ok I had another long phone call with the MPTL yesterday. I was trying to clear up alot of the issues. The state vet who was at our swaps was adamnant about testing and showing proof of coming from a PT free flock on youngsters. Well he wasn't in so I got a few more answers from the lab tech herself.
My first question was on the 5 months of age or under. I asked... "How do you verify that chicks/eggs are from a PT free flock without getting a hatchery permit and getting involved with NPIP?" She told me that they should turn in a PT slip and do the annual breeder test option. All birds in the breeder flocks have to be listed along with band numbers. You show that slip of paper as your proof for chicks then. That is supposed to be a coverall for those younger birds. She did not know if it was good for only 30 days before a swap or for the whole hatching season.... Then I asked "well suppose I am selling chicks from my own flock as well as eggs I got from a friend out of state. Sure I know my birds have been tested, but how do I differentiate the ones from elsewhere and prove that they are PT free? This is esp important since some of the breeds I may be selling for chicks are not the same as the breeds listed in my breeder flock." She didn't have an answer for that one...
Turkeys.... If you want to send in blood tests right now to get them tested for MG & MS look out. If they freeze at all enroute to the lab, they will probably come up a false positive. Its MN and its going to be cold for a few more months. I know my turkeys are breeding already and will be laying soon. She told me just to wait to send in any samples unless I have to sell birds right now. I asked if when the state vet comes down for his inspections on our farms if he can take the samples with him. I got "That's not the vet's responsibility. They are there to inspect only, not do any testing or handle lab samples."
Waterfowl...gets even more confusing! You can exhibit without showing proof of testing, but you cannot sell waterfowl at a swap without it. Now I'd be more concerned about bringing a sick bird to a show and infecting all the birds there. The lab tech's reasoning was that those birds used for show just go for butcher after that anyways. Excuse me....maybe for 4-H only. At a higher level, those are your top birds that go back in your breeder flocks. You would think that is what they want tested if anything. The birds that go to the swaps are usually the culls that get butchered. The next thing pertaining to ducks and geese is the banding itself. I don't care if you use the most heavy duty metal bands that you need a pliers to get on.... geese and most ducks rip them off sooner or later. Now if I get certified and the state vet comes out for his visits, I can keep putting bands on my birds over and over but the band numbers might not match the original paperwork anymore. It all looks good on paper, but these guys apparently have never raised many of these birds.
Pigeons.... omg this one raised a stir in Hutchinson last Sunday. The president of the MSPA confronted the state vet with lots of questions he could not/would not answer and walked out on him in front of everyone. There are breeds of pigeons used for meat and human consumption. Some are bigger than some bantam chickens. Now does that classify them as poultry? What about the people that will bring in 1,000 barn pigeons at a time to resell to dog trainers. The state provides us with maybe 200 bands. How far will those go if those people bring in a whole truckload? There is nowhere in the rules that state pigeons are anywhere under these rules for banding and PT testing. Brian Ziemer at the swap on Sunday made a huge statement saying the state wants all pigeons tested and banded too. Paul Lipinksy (president of the MSPA) asked him for a copy of that in writing. Mr Ziemer got a lil huffy and walked out on him while they were still asking questions. I tried calling him yesterday myself and left a voicemail on his cell with no response so far.
The lab tech just couldn't get in through her head WHY this is becoming such an issue this year. She said these rules have always been in place. Well.... with the state vet being the first through the door at all the swaps and all of a sudden people have to get birds tested and pay for it... ummm yeah. You can no longer just cart in a box of 20 chicks anymore without going through alot of paperwork beforehand.
Fun fun....
My first question was on the 5 months of age or under. I asked... "How do you verify that chicks/eggs are from a PT free flock without getting a hatchery permit and getting involved with NPIP?" She told me that they should turn in a PT slip and do the annual breeder test option. All birds in the breeder flocks have to be listed along with band numbers. You show that slip of paper as your proof for chicks then. That is supposed to be a coverall for those younger birds. She did not know if it was good for only 30 days before a swap or for the whole hatching season.... Then I asked "well suppose I am selling chicks from my own flock as well as eggs I got from a friend out of state. Sure I know my birds have been tested, but how do I differentiate the ones from elsewhere and prove that they are PT free? This is esp important since some of the breeds I may be selling for chicks are not the same as the breeds listed in my breeder flock." She didn't have an answer for that one...
Turkeys.... If you want to send in blood tests right now to get them tested for MG & MS look out. If they freeze at all enroute to the lab, they will probably come up a false positive. Its MN and its going to be cold for a few more months. I know my turkeys are breeding already and will be laying soon. She told me just to wait to send in any samples unless I have to sell birds right now. I asked if when the state vet comes down for his inspections on our farms if he can take the samples with him. I got "That's not the vet's responsibility. They are there to inspect only, not do any testing or handle lab samples."
Waterfowl...gets even more confusing! You can exhibit without showing proof of testing, but you cannot sell waterfowl at a swap without it. Now I'd be more concerned about bringing a sick bird to a show and infecting all the birds there. The lab tech's reasoning was that those birds used for show just go for butcher after that anyways. Excuse me....maybe for 4-H only. At a higher level, those are your top birds that go back in your breeder flocks. You would think that is what they want tested if anything. The birds that go to the swaps are usually the culls that get butchered. The next thing pertaining to ducks and geese is the banding itself. I don't care if you use the most heavy duty metal bands that you need a pliers to get on.... geese and most ducks rip them off sooner or later. Now if I get certified and the state vet comes out for his visits, I can keep putting bands on my birds over and over but the band numbers might not match the original paperwork anymore. It all looks good on paper, but these guys apparently have never raised many of these birds.
Pigeons.... omg this one raised a stir in Hutchinson last Sunday. The president of the MSPA confronted the state vet with lots of questions he could not/would not answer and walked out on him in front of everyone. There are breeds of pigeons used for meat and human consumption. Some are bigger than some bantam chickens. Now does that classify them as poultry? What about the people that will bring in 1,000 barn pigeons at a time to resell to dog trainers. The state provides us with maybe 200 bands. How far will those go if those people bring in a whole truckload? There is nowhere in the rules that state pigeons are anywhere under these rules for banding and PT testing. Brian Ziemer at the swap on Sunday made a huge statement saying the state wants all pigeons tested and banded too. Paul Lipinksy (president of the MSPA) asked him for a copy of that in writing. Mr Ziemer got a lil huffy and walked out on him while they were still asking questions. I tried calling him yesterday myself and left a voicemail on his cell with no response so far.
The lab tech just couldn't get in through her head WHY this is becoming such an issue this year. She said these rules have always been in place. Well.... with the state vet being the first through the door at all the swaps and all of a sudden people have to get birds tested and pay for it... ummm yeah. You can no longer just cart in a box of 20 chicks anymore without going through alot of paperwork beforehand.
Fun fun....
Thanks for that post Amy! You have to love the government don't you?
You should try complying with the EPA once. I am a one-man shop that has to go by the rules for shops that employ hundreds of people. 90% of my paper work doesn't apply to me but I need to sign all the papers anyway
You should try complying with the EPA once. I am a one-man shop that has to go by the rules for shops that employ hundreds of people. 90% of my paper work doesn't apply to me but I need to sign all the papers anyway
- Thread starter
- #57
Ok just got off the phone with Brian Ziemer. He was very nice about answering my questions.
As for the young stock.... he said if you didn't have the hatchery permit and NPIP forms to just bring along a PT form with the 'annual breeder flock' results. Just something to prove the parents of those babies have been tested before this hatching season. If you buy eggs off the internet, get NPIP papers or you really don't have a way to prove that the parents are clear. He said how this guy down in IA bought alot of hatching eggs a couple years ago. When he went to get the birds tested for showing later that year those all came up positive.
On the turkeys.... He told me just to wait til the weather warms up a bit or send them in a styrofoam container. Make sure to mark on the box 'do not freeze' at the post office.
Waterfowl... He too finds it confusing that you don't need birds tested for exhibition. He said that your breeders don't have to be banded. If you take them to a swap/sale, then get a band on them for that day.
Pigeons... Nothing in place yet, but they are working on getting those laws changed. He wants them banded too. If you bring them to swaps, you can get through with a reminder to do it for the next one. He said they will accept spiral bands and even zip ties for now. Just something to identify them.
Hope to see you guys at our March swaps!
Amy
As for the young stock.... he said if you didn't have the hatchery permit and NPIP forms to just bring along a PT form with the 'annual breeder flock' results. Just something to prove the parents of those babies have been tested before this hatching season. If you buy eggs off the internet, get NPIP papers or you really don't have a way to prove that the parents are clear. He said how this guy down in IA bought alot of hatching eggs a couple years ago. When he went to get the birds tested for showing later that year those all came up positive.
On the turkeys.... He told me just to wait til the weather warms up a bit or send them in a styrofoam container. Make sure to mark on the box 'do not freeze' at the post office.
Waterfowl... He too finds it confusing that you don't need birds tested for exhibition. He said that your breeders don't have to be banded. If you take them to a swap/sale, then get a band on them for that day.
Pigeons... Nothing in place yet, but they are working on getting those laws changed. He wants them banded too. If you bring them to swaps, you can get through with a reminder to do it for the next one. He said they will accept spiral bands and even zip ties for now. Just something to identify them.
Hope to see you guys at our March swaps!
Amy
So a bandette with a number on it is good enough for chickens?OK, If I am understanding this then, if you are bringing a box of chicks, you need proof that the parents of the birds have been tested. That is all. If over 5 months then each bird must have proof of testing. The parents have to be tested before the chicks were hatched. All of this testing will raise prices on all birds. I am just wondering if they will be enforcing paperwork at the smaller swaps? I guess that I will be attending larger swaps instead of selling because this could all get very expensive. I don't always sell out everything at a swap, so then they would need to be retested again for the next month at 50 cents a pop. I will need to become certified myself. Where do you take blood from in a chicken?
- Thread starter
- #59
Yeah it will raise prices. I currently pay $6 for a box of 25 of the plastic bandettes and $20 for 100 of the aluminum ones. Add on the cost of testing. No fun!
You are correct on the paperwork. The annual flock test for the babies is good for the hatching season. The actual PT tests on older sale birds is only good for 30 days usually. Swaps are spread out and it will have to be redone. Getting yourself certified is the best route.
The blood is taken under the wing. Its just usually a prick to get a drop to put on the platelet. The white white birds are easy. Our black skinned silkies are a lil bit more of a challenge seeing the veins.
Amy
You are correct on the paperwork. The annual flock test for the babies is good for the hatching season. The actual PT tests on older sale birds is only good for 30 days usually. Swaps are spread out and it will have to be redone. Getting yourself certified is the best route.
The blood is taken under the wing. Its just usually a prick to get a drop to put on the platelet. The white white birds are easy. Our black skinned silkies are a lil bit more of a challenge seeing the veins.
Amy
Where did you find bandettes for $6.00 a box? Was that with shipping? The cheapest online seemed to be Strombergs at a little over $12.00 for 25. I was seeing them at Houles in Forest Lake for 50 cents apiece which is about the same.
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