just got my flock NPIP tested

[Guitartists]

Can I get my birds tested say yearly or twice a year by my vet or some other avenue? I don't plan on selling much other than some hatching eggs here and there.... but I would certainly feel bad if someone got a sick bird from me.

I guess I am wondering... how crucial or beneficial IS NPIP?

 

[priszilla]

it varies-- here I had to premise register NAIS. I didn't want to but to legally ship eggs out of SC you are supposed to. Your coop is inspected as are your birds- but just like vehicle inspection- it is a annual thing.

 

[speckledhen]

Premise registration of NAIS is "voluntary". I LOVE how the govt has redefined that word!

 

[littlepeddler]

I sure to get my NPIP tested real soon. Hope I know how all of this goes

 

[Anne]

I'm getting my flock tested on Monday! I'm a little nervous and NOT looking forward to the chore... it sounds like a big pain!

It's been a long time in the making... it was 3 years before my dep't of ag. actually responded, despite my sending emails every few months!

 

[speckledhen]

Wow, Anne, it took that long? Boy, if you didn't do something immediately that they requested, they'd be on your tail every minute, threatening action.

My problem with NPIP is that it seems like it would give a false sense of security to buyers and to you as well. There are breeders who are NPIP and I happened to know that they do sometimes buy non-NPIP birds, even though they are not supposed to. This means they really only care about the program as a selling point to make more $$$ by being able to imply that their birds are completely disease free. The gov't doesn't seem to be policing it, so how can anyone really know that NPIP is any better than nothing? I heard from a poultry lab that pullorum and Typhoid have been eradicated in most places entirely anyway. These are just my own issues with it. I realize that most people have only the best intentions when they get certified.

 

[Anne]

Hi Speckledhen,

I totally see where you're coming from.

My flock is the picture of health -- I don't need the government to tell me that. I cull birds that are unhealthy, have never had an infectious disease in my flock (not one with any perceivable symptoms, anyhow), and keep my birds in the best of conditions.

When I began raising Araucanas, I started off thinking I wouldn't want or need to join NPIP or the breed club or any of that stuff.

HOWEVER -- when selling hatching eggs, I had potential buyers decline to bid because I wasn't an NPIP member, or wasn't a member of the breed club. So, in the interest of increasing my market, I joined the Araucana Club and started emailing my dep't of Agriculture to become an NPIP member.

It is a shame that some people abuse the program. But, since I know my birds are healthy, and since I fully intend to follow the "rules," if the NPIP label helps me sell more eggs... I'm all for it, I guess.

In my eyes, it's essentially a credential to hang on the wall and look impressive, y'know?

 

[speckledhen]

I see your point totally, Anne, I really do. And you will follow it to the letter, I'm sure. I just dont know how they can monitor people though. Seems an impossible task and a credential that means something to the buyer, but may not really mean anything if the seller is one of those other ones.