Certified & Licensed Poultry Technician questions

[hencackle]

I hope therealsilkiechick reads this. TIA for your reply.

Would you share what training and courses you had to become a poultry tech?
What is involved in becoming certified in your state (PA)?

At first I was going to PM you, but I thought that other people might be interested in what you had to say. You just might inspire some people to become one (if such training is available in their area).

 

[2dream]

That is good hencackle, I would also be interested.

Edited to add: I pm'ed realsilkie about this.

 

[billson1]

in Minnesota i took a 8 hour course,we learned anything from sanitizers, to bird flu and other diseases,cleanliness, incubating ,about different laws and forms to fill out,etc. and of course actual testing procedures .then we took a test and it was open book ,then the district state vet came out to my place a week later to observe me actually testing birds and hatchery debirs and he showed me how to draw blood also for testing turkeys

 

[hencackle]

billson1--who sponsored the course, was it a veterinary school or your county agricultural extension agent? Did they supply chickens for you to practice on?

 

[therealsilkiechick]

thanks for the pm, i'm here now,lol. good question!! it's a little bit different here but very similar.

we are in one region but closer to another we first had to track down where we had to go for the course. it took a mth to find out and we where first on the list. we took it in our region at a pa dept of ag regional office they are who sponsoured our course.

the course took 3 hours of classroom study learned about ai, other diseases, sanitation, biosecurity, how to do a polorum test on site, gave us general instructions on how to take blood, filling out forms signs and symptoms and how to test or what to test for ect. we got books and got kits. only me and dh got our kit's and only us 2 of a class of 24 got certified.

we then had to practice at home on our own birds till we could draw blood. we had to get everything our kit's where missing they don't provide everything. we had to get needles, stuff for sanitation and disposal our scrubs ect.

after we could do it and our birds where ready we had to call the pa dept of ag state vet to come to our property to teach us and watch us do a hands on.

i'm gonna post this so u can read while i finish writeing.
silkie

 

[therealsilkiechick]

i have to retype one of my kid's cleared everything,lol.

we also have 4 mini licenses that we sign and put in tags to carry on us when we go to others properties or keep on us for id so others know we are who we say we are.
brb to finish what i was saying,
silkie

 

[therealsilkiechick]

we had to show her we could suit up and do biosecurity, we could handle the birds and how to draw blood, how to fill different forms out for exhibition testing, npip testing ect. we had to do traceal and cloacle swabs(sp?). in the state of pa we no longer do bleeds for ducks we do the cloacle swabs or vent swabs. we had to put permanent pa dept of ag bands on all birds tested to show we could put them on them. can't remember now what else we all talked so much and we asked questions. and also show how to handle and dispose of needles and biohasard waste.

we had to do it in front of a construction zone in front of the house OMG was it embarrasing and ya know what people sitting there thought seeing suits and people swabing chickens, rotfl. we filled out forms and she passed us on the spot and signed them. we sent them back to the pa dept of ag with our fees and they mailed us our certs and licences. they are good for till dec 31 of that year. every year we have to renue them and pay the fee and then they mail it like the ones shown in the last pic that's how we get them.

it's awesome u could actually make a business of it if you wanted to we do it more for exhibition and for disease prevention this year we are also doing it to npip our flock as well as others flocks close to us. we are licenced to do any poultry and water fowl in the state of pa. they just sent us new submision forms so things here have changed this year some. they have sent me stuff on npip also to start to test for others this year for that. they email us periodically with reports of major diseases and any updates. our lab is 2 hours from here in a hurray i can drive samples there and have results faxed back in 2 days. we also have their emails and phone #'s for anything we need also.

hope that answered everything if i missed any ask away and i'll try to answer you. yes they have classes all over at different types of the year.
silkie

 

[MissPrissy]

I have been looking for something like this through the Commonwealth of Virginia and so far have no luck finding any information.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

i'll look after i make super and see if i can find anything for ur state to help u out.

here mike and i are the only ones licensed besides 1 other person (he's about 5 miles from us)within a few hours range from us all so the dept of ag was really excited we came and did it. the more people who do the more people there is to help others and to help in disease prevention. most times it's few and far between areas but every person who is licensed like we are can help make a difference if they care to and it's something we take very serious. it's sad when i think about only us 2 going the whole way with it out of 24 students in the course and some were even vet students who needed to learn it for their jobs but they didn't pass.

 

[hencackle]

I'm impressed, thanks realsilkie!
Do you get many calls on a regular basis or is it sporadic?