Hello Back Yard Chickens Forum.... I am new to the world of chickens and could use some help. I am a stay at home mommy of 2 beautiful twin boys and we live on the eastern shore of Maryland. I recently decided that I would like to have a small home flock of chickens. I think that it would be nice for my boys to grown up learning about respecting and caring for animals. I have been doing some homework before jumping in and even attended a short course a few nights ago on small flocks held by the area extension office. I want to do this right from the beginning. I have a few eggs in an incubator and they are due to hatch next Friday. I got the eggs from a friend who has a small backyard flock in the area where I live. I would however like to have a few more chicks of different breeds to add to what will hopefully hatch. I have visited some hatchery sights that I have found online like Murry McMurry and My pet chicken but after taking the short course I think that I should get my chicks from a NPIP source so as to not introduce disease. So, my question to you is, how do I find chicks that are NPIP? I have tried to find breeders or hatcheries online but have not really come up with much. Thanks so much, Debbie
We have a whole forum on chicken breeders and hatcheries: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=16 Diseases, for the most part, are not spread by hatcheries but by individual flock owners. Sometimes these flock owners sell chickens or hatching eggs, and some diseases can be passed from the hen to the egg. Sometimes they are airborne or passed by clothing or footwear at the feed store. There are probably other routes of transmission as well. If you buy from a private party, I would suggest you check them out. A good breeder will also have a better quality chicken in terms of show quality or breed standard. Sometimes show quality chickens don't lay as well as hatchery birds, which are bred and sometimes interbred for more eggs. This is a great website to learn all things chicken!
^ ^ ^ What ddawn said. And also check out your local feed stores for baby chicks. And here's the info on breeders/hatcheries: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=285981
Here is the site to search for NPIP breeders in any state: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/search-dir.shtml
I am pretty sure all commercial hatcheries have to be NPIP. Has anyone gone to this website and actually had it work? It has never worked for me and at my testing class last week they said that it almost never is up and running. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health -dir.shtml
Yes, anyone that ships eggs, chicks, or adults across any state line is required to be NPIP. So any of the big hatcheries will be NPIP.
