Illinois...

[EweSheep]

CW-short abbreviation of Calicowoods (Harry Shaw, Jr's farm name).

 

[StevenW.]

Quote:
Thank you

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

I have been chasing this for weeks, speaking with and corresponding with officials, testers, vets and farm bureaus.

This is not gospel - just what I've learned so far and my actions to correct it.
This is what I've learned from the Illinois Dept of Ag:

To show you must have your birds tested.
1) You can take a bird or two to an independent tester. Those results would be good for either 60 or 90 days and only for that bird.
2) You can get your farm NPIP certified. That would be good for ALL birds, for 1 year.
2a) To be certified you must first be tested (free) by an official of the Illinois Dept of Ag. All birds on property must be tested at that time.
2b) Yearly tests of a percentage of your birds, by an independent state certified tester, must be done to keep your NPIP status.
2c) You can only bring into your farm, by trading or buying, birds or hatching eggs with other NPIP farms. You may sell/give to non certified farms but not bring in from those farms.
2d) Independent testers, who have some hoops they need to jump through, can charge what they want but having spoke with 3, they cannot possibly charge enough to cover their costs let alone make a profit. They are not a business.

I am having the Illinois Department of Agriculture come to my farm, test & certify my flock as free from disease and become a NPIP.
I have registered the farm on the Ill Dept of Ag's voluntary Standardized Premises Registration System.
I am becomming a certified tester.
Unlike the testers I spoke with, I promise - to myself - to be available for some one, like me, desparate to test their flock and unable to transport the 20+ birds tot he tester's location. I will go to them, make friends/contacts and share a cup of coffee with them.

 

[EweSheep]

Too many restrictions and that is why I backed out from going NPIP. If I was going to take my birds to a show, I would have an individual tester and be done with it.

ALL of my stock are from NPIP breeders or just expired NPIP breeders . It was getting to the point of being NAIS in a way and it was not cost effective for me to do it.

I've noticed some REAL, long hiding breeders would go underground, picking and chosing the BEST people to buy their birds...those birds were usually the BEST and hard to get. They were once popular but too many bad folks ruined it for them and they go underground.

Believe it or not, people STILL bring in birds, regardless of the NPIP or NAIS status. They would isolate the birds away from their stock and when the tester comes out, they get them tested and after quarantine and testing is over, they will mingle the flock together. They WONT tell you but they do it neverthanless.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

Ewe Sheep:
Can you expound on your reasons for not going NPIP please? I don't want to get into something I will find out with more experience was a bad idea.

 

[ilroost]

i think but am not sure you can call the U OF I and they can help you find one

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

They were as helpful as teets ona bull
First clue? Didn't know what NPIP was!

 

[greenriver]

Quote:
Well, I am with you on the NPIP certification. Thank you for paving the way for others and sharing.

 

[EweSheep]

Believe it or not, I shipped birds and hatching eggs OUT OF STATE and NO ONE ever stopped them from their destination. You would think there would be a poultry inspector checking every box or carton for all the birds, eggs and chicks but nooooooooo, they dont.

I have a very good friend of mine who is the postal inspector the state and I asked him if we need NPIP papers on them. He said No, it is NOT required NOR they inspect packages of that sort. Their duties ARE to ship birds, to their destination whether they make it or not alive or dead. It does not matter as long they SHIP them. Eggs, nope, they don't even bother reading the numbers or checking NPIP numbers to see if they are expired or whatever. It really floored me when he said that and he said it is the owner and receivers responsibility to make sure the birds are OK to ship, be in good healthy condition for travel and they are not responsible for anything at all. So on a dare, I shipped two pullets to NY, another to FL and I think one to WI, and several here in the IL state, not ONE ever stopped and returned. They all made it to their destination, healthy as they be. I even had private, non NPIP, closed flock breeders sending me birds without any paperwork attached to it, and again, NOT ONE ever returned back to the breeder. Soooooo, not every state are strict and not every post office has an inspector ready to send any birds back. So as my friend told me, they are so lax on the NPIP and it is not their responsibility to look after your birds except to get them to their destination as fast as they can. They do NOT have NPIP books or have the manpower to call the NPIP for the valid numbers. Just pass the packages on! I have not shipped any birds last year but did some hatching eggs and none came back to me.

With certain states like WA (where there was a BAD outbreak), VA and MI, you MUST have NPIP or vet's certifications on the box or carrier. They are pretty strict about that but has anyone fly under the radar? Yep, you bet they did!

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

OK Ewe Sheep. I get that it's not enforced properly even though it is the law. Ditto with school speed zones. That doesn't make it OK in my book to disobey the law. Not that I don't bend a few here and there myself. But I belive it was put in place for a reason and that is for the protection of our families and livestock. But I belive laws have been put into place to curb those with no common sense - like some one who would go 60 mph when children are present or ship an obviously sick bird for profit. That aside, which to me isn't the best reason to do it, are there any reasons you don't like NPIP certification?
My reasonings to do it are :
Peace of mind for my family's health.
Peace of mind for my flock's health.
The ability to show on a 30 day notice if I so choose.
The ability to sell, trade, or loan a breeding bird for the improvement of my chosen breed.
The ability to rule out, if my flock shows signs of sickness, certain diseases quickly and get to the cause of the problem.

I also, for free, did the IL Dept of Ag's "standardized Premisis Registration System. With that, I will be notified of any outbreaks of diseases in my area, from the state, like the CDC notifies hospitals of outbreaks for human diseases.

So again, if you would please, are there any other reasons you don't like NPIP certification? Like I said before, I'm new and want to learn from those who have more experience than me, not make an avoidable mistake due to lack of knowlege or not thinking something through to the end.