I wanted to report back about NPIP, as I said I would.
Yeah! good luck!!! And I hope you will let me know how it goes.
I started the process by sending an email query to the contact listed on the NPIP page. I had to wait about five days for a response, but it was June and I assume the contact was on vacation, because when I did get an email it was very helpful and detailed. It included a phone number, so I called with a few questions. She took my contact information and told me that the inspector would call shortly to make an appointment. He did so two days later.
My inspector made an appointment with me for two weeks after his call. He came an hour late, but this was fine. He only was interested in testing adult birds (six months and older) who were breeders for the chicks we planned to mail out. (In other words, he didn’t test our laying flock.) We have our birds separated into various outbuildings on our farm. He only wanted to test the ones in our breeding coops. We had six birds for him to test by this criteria, even though we have a laying flock of 20 chickens, and over 85 birds under the age of 6 months.
I was surprised when he told us that
most flocks he tests in backyards average 12 birds! He also said that it was fine for him to “test sample” because if any birds were sick, all were, and so testing a sample flock would cover all our birds.
The testing consisted of a wing prick for blood (the Salmonella typhoid test, which gives results instantaneously) , and a mouth swab for Avian Influenza (which gets sent to a lab and we get our results back in two to three weeks). The inspector also looked around our facility and rated it. He rated us an “A” for cleanliness — which he mentioned mostly included no dirt piles around the coops — I think because of rodent infestation, but that’s a guess.
He asked about whether we used automated watering or hand watering. We do the latter: I can’t bring myself to trust automated systems, in case they fail, so we water and feed morning and evenings daily, as well as shutting coop doors by hand. He gave us a “1” (which is high) for
not having automated watering. He did not look into our coops to see the cleanliness levels.
He left us some paperwork to fill in. It’s mostly contact information and the type of operation you are running. Two pages; very simple. We mailed it in, and waited for our “all clear.” Our inspector told us that it was on us to call and arrange a repeat visit yearly. It took about a month for us to receive our NPIP #253 from the WVDA.
And that was it! I was glad to clear this hoop and find that my birds are as healthy as I thought they were! I think that, for most of us, if you habitually follow best practices for your birds, you too will clear this hurtle easily, so don’t be afraid to try!
I'd love to see your set up!
