well, actually they were tested for Pullorum and Avian Flu, but it gets me an NPIP number. just posting this for those who are wondering about it. it was really easy and free so far. i called my state department of agriculture, asked about NPIP and they signed me up to get tested. they came out and tested everything over 4 months for pullorum and everything over 6 weeks for avian flu. i didn't need to get my younger birds tested. i can now get a NPIP number and i will need to retest for avian flu in 6 month when all of my eggs are grown birds and when all of my younger birds are of age, then i need to test every 180 days to be certified avian flu free and i need to retest for pullorum every year. seems easy enough, i haven't paid for anything yet, it was just a quick swab of the throat and a quick poke for drop of blood, no harm done and its nice knowing my flock is clean!!
Interesting, I have just learned about the NPIP (excuse me if I got that wrong), a older man was talking about that, in the blood it looks like grains of sand and you must dispatch your whole flock. It was apparently a terrible thing, like so many other diseases, and they think that its mostly wiped out. But they still test it, just in case.
Just so you know-- my flock is NPIP too- except the new ones I still have to test. But your eggs are from NPIP stock : )
I had mine done back in April and it was easy and also done for free. The lady was so nice that did mine and the guy I talk to online sent me a whole box of free stuff. I was sent pens, sticky notes, calendars, 2 cute rubber chickens all marked with the NPIP logo etc...
Quote:Actually, I had what turned out to be a false positive [pullorum] a couple years back. I was temporarily quarantined while they took the bird to Cornell for further testing. I was told that if that bird had actually been positive the quarantine would have continued and birds would have been retested after 30 days. If no other birds tested positive there would have been no further action and the quarantine would have been lifted. I was assured that my flock would not be depopulated. It's a misconception that 1 positive bird necessarily results in losing a whole flock. The tester that does my birds has only had 1 instance of a positive test in all the years she's done it.
Quote:NPIP is the "National Poultry Improvement Plan"... it's not a disease, but the program that tests flocks to be sure they're not carrying particular diseases... Just wanted to clarify. There are so many dang acronyms on here!! Thanks for posting here... I'm awaiting a visit from our vets sometime in the next 4-8 weeks, and been curious as to what they will do while here. Now I know!
Does getting your flock NPIP tested open up a can of worms as far as other government agencies go? I don't want people meddling in my affairs or telling me I have to register with this that and the next thing. Does it vary by state and county??
I called to find out about having my chickens pullorum tested, and when I asked about the NAIS thing and whether it was related to NPIP the vet I spoke with got kinda mad and said, "NAIS is not mandatory, and if someone shows up trying to push it on you tell them to go fly a kite!" That made me happy, didn't seem like the old guy was up for NAIS!!! That's Missouri, anyway. Don't know about other states!!!
Quote:Since NPIP is a USDA program, obviously if they begin to do the Animal Identification, you are already on the list. They've "voluntarily" signed up people without their knowledge already. Certainly, NPIP would put you on the gov't radar. One problem with NPIP is that many will assume that birds from a NPIP breeder are completely safe and healthy. Not so. There are so, so many diseases that they do NOT test for and one Washington State breeder who is responsible for spreading ILT is supposedly NPIP certified; if I'm wrong about that, someone can correct me, but I'm sure people buying birds from that breeder felt very safe in doing so.
Just filing for a business license puts you on the map... But, yeah, it could open up that proverbial can of worms for someone in the lower 48. For Alaska, premises registration is all there is for NAIS so far... I really doubt that they could enforce it here, and truthfully, I got the feeling that they were sort of ignoring it... too many other things to worry about, like bears!