Is it illegal to sell locally without NPIP?

[Bellatrixed]

I hope this isn't a really dumb question that has been answered many times and I just haven't seen it!

I have this idea in my head to maybe try to make up a little feed money by selling point of lay pullets down the road, but this NPIP stuff is really confusing and intimidating to me. It was my understanding that if you wanted to actually breed and ship/sell lots of poultry that NPIP was a good thing to do... but what if someone just wants to buy from NPIP hatcheries, raise the chicks to early aduthood, and then sell them? Am I breaking laws by not being NPIP approved myself?

It just seems sort of crazy to have to get every bird on my property certified to be able to sell a few chickens a year I didn't even breed, so I'm hoping not.

It's free in my state (Missouri) but it just seems like an inconvenience more than anything for something so minor.

I don't have to have permits to sell dogs, cats, horses, cows, goats... you get the idea lol.

 

[Judy]

If you sell within your state, it will be whatever your state law says.

You might be interested in this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/128584/npip-certification/0_20

 

[Bellatrixed]

All I can find is this:

"A negative pullorum test is also required for a producer to legally sell day-old poultry and hatching eggs within the state of Missouri."

http://mda.mo.gov/animals/health/disease/poultry.php

It only specifies day-old poultry and hatching eggs... so does that mean selling adults is fine? I can't seem to find anything about that.

I mean, do you see my point? I'm not breeding but selling "existing" chickens, and I don't understand why I'd need special licenses to sell that any more than I'd need one to sell a dog lol.

 

[bluegiantsc]

When you get your flock NPIP certified, they come and do the tests to make sure they don't have pullorum and typhoid and I think you can also ask for the avian influenza test because some states require it. So if you said that its free in your state, then why not do it? The state tester will come out to your house, test all your chickens and band them. He'll give your flock a number as your pullorum clean certified flock. The chicks that are less than 4 weeks old can't get tested, but once they're over that, they should be.
They give a little leeway with the hatching eggs and the day old chicks, IF they come from an NPIP certified farm, but you have to get them tested in 6 months after receiving them; if I remember correctly.
You have to get the birds tested every year to keep your certified clean flock title.

In SC I can't sell chickens that are less than 2 months old and that aren't certified. People do it all the time, but you're not supposed to. I can't go to a chickenstock and sell without them being certified.
And also, why wouldn't you want people to know your flock is disease free. I'm going in a few weeks to a workshop to learn all about this stuff and to become a tester. That isn't necessary for you unless you want to be a tester, you just have to call and get them to come out.

 

[Bellatrixed]

It's more just the fact that it is a hassle! Plus I'm scared of new things

Judging from what I've researched about NPIP I'm not alone in that; tons of people said they were scared to have it done but then said it wasn't nearly as bad as they thought it would be. I'm also squeamish about blood so the idea of holding a bunch of chickens as their wings are pricked doesn't appeal to me. Yes, I'm a baby lol. (Yet I am capable of culling chickens... it just traumatizes me. Go figure)

Anyway, I don't even have chickens yet but I'm just planning ahead for the future. I have decided to aim for getting NPIP at the beginning of next year once my flock is hopefully established. Since I was planning on only having 25 or so this year and selling some pullets before winter, I really didn't want to go through the hassle of a NPIP testing just to sell 5 pullets, you know?

Thanks for the input though. I guess I am just old school. When I last had chickens nobody cared what you were selling unless you were going to a public venue, but then that was before heightened biosecurity and outbreaks of typhoid in my state (think the last here was in 04). Like I said, since I can sell pretty much every other animal from my home without tests it just seemed weird to have to get a license to sell a handful of adult chickens I did not breed that came from NPIP flocks.

 

[jdywntr]

Looking at the link in your first post it reads like it is talking about commercial producers and exhibitors. I'd call the state office and check. I did a search on craigslist, don't know what city you are but I looked at Kansas City and there were tons of chicks/chickens for sale. I only clicked on a few but only 2 said npip.

 

[Bellatrixed]

jdywntr, that's why I was confused! With everything I've read about NPIP I always got the feeling it was *mostly* geared towards commercial operations, breeders, or people who showed--not people who sold a few adult chickens a year from their own home lol.

Since I can't find anything at all for Missouri that officially says you can't sell chickens (just no selling of hatching eggs or day old chicks, apparently) without NPIP I assume it's not outright illegal for the moment. I still plan to get NPIP next year just so I don't have to worry about it (and since I want to have expanded by then), so worst case scenario is I only am an illegal chicken seller this fall...

I will probably call just to double check too.

 

[wendamus]

Ok, so - if I fail, what happens? Do they require I kill all my chickens? That's the only reason I wouldn't want to do this. Once you invite the government in, it's hard to get rid of them.

 

[Bellatrixed]

Yes, they kill the chickens if they're diseased, but it's supposed to be incredibly rare to get a positive result. And if they DID have it, you'd want them offed for their own good since it's an awful disease that will eventually kill them and spread like wildfire. That's how I understand it anyway.

 

[bluegiantsc]

There is a waiting period when you get a positive test. Its called a Hold Order. The test tests for the proteins in the blood that that are elevated due to illness. Sometimes you get a false positive when you do a field test, so they make you quarantine your birds who tested positive and then they take the blood to the lab and test it again to see if its really pullorum or typhoid. Then they test again every month until you get 100% positive for 3 straight months. That gives the false positive birds enough time to push the "bad" proteins out of their blood, then once you get a clean test your hold order is released.
Now, if your bird tests positive in the lab for real and its 100% positive, then they will cull your birds. You can either give your bird to them or do it yourself, I think. I think here, you give your bird to them and they humanly kill them and then study their bodies.

There is a reason they do these tests and there is a reason they have this program, because its highly contagious stuff. BUT the disease's are really rare.

I'm sure that selling some birds without getting them certified isn't going to be a problem. If they come from a NPIP certified farm/hatchery then I think they have a few months until they should be tested, so you should be fine. It will be okay, you're birds are probably clean. I haven't gotten my birds tested yet and I've had them for 2 years, they're fine.