Buying chickens in a neighboring state

[kathie grey]

I have been reading information on laws and I am just not sure. I live in CT...can I buy a pet chicken or two in Massachusetts or NJ and bring them home? From what I am reading....it seems I need to apply to state and I need cert of health. Also says you cannot buy hatching eggs out of state without approval. There are fines and they can take and destroy your birds.

I have someone in NJ that wants to buy some of my chicks ...but I am afraid to sell and have them get in trouble. NJ law says they need health certt. I am just a backyard hobbyist with more chicks than I can keep. I am not NPIP certified. But laws also say you can't bring a dog into NJ without a health cert...and I know people buy dogs over state lines all the time.

Am I being too literal? I don't want to break laws or take chance of helping someone else break the law.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

No your not being too literal. States are requiring chicks and hatching eggs to be from NPIP or NTIP flocks now. If you were NPIP certified then a copy of your cert could accompany the chicks. If a person actually chooses to contact the agriculture department and report they are moving said birds on such and such date and will be in quarantine on such and such property is entirely up to them. And if every person actually did what is literally being asked then the system would be bogged down for years, most birds unable to come out of quarantine in their lifetime as the government would be completely frozen not the slow crawl we are used to. The letter stating birds can be released from quarantine will never come.

What is actually being asked is all flocks in the US eventually be in a NPIP program but the wording of whom you must contact and await approval to move birds and await approval to take birds out of quarantine is rather rediculus when talking about a few back yard birds. They want everyone in the program but the wording of awaiting approval is really for large operations.

Basically I'm a criminal because I ordered bees and then moved to Vermont from NH. The order could not be mailed to Vermont as that apiary hadn't jumped through the hoops yet to be on Vermont's approved list of inspected sellers. I had the bees mailed to my old neighbor and then drove to pick them up. Technically I need to register my hives too. When my apiary gets to over ten hives or I start selling bees/honey I'll do just that but am in no hurry.

 

[eviemethugh]

This is one of those "the more you know" things. If you didn't even see an issue with it and never though to look at the laws you would do it because you are just trying to rehome a few birds, not start a huge mail order business. And you would never know the laws and the government would never know about the deed. But now you know. And you have to decide how comfortable you are. You may call and find a receptionist who doesn't care what you do and tells you to just do it. A cop who pulls you over certainly doesn't know the laws on livestock transport, but you may just find one who is a farmer and being a police officer jut pays the bills and s/he will know about certifications needed. You know what I'm saying? You can't claim ignorance now. But does anyone really think 3 birds going to someone's backyard will ruin new jerseys poultry industry? Ehhhh

 

[kathie grey]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess the person buying my chickens is the one taking the risk and not me. In CT the fine...if you get caught with an undeclared chicken...is $500 per day up to $25,000!
That is not small change! Not a risk I would take to obtain a pet.

I guess until I get NPIP certified I will only give away to friends or sell to people in state.