NPIP Certification

[Adrien515]

sorryguys, I have no idea what category to post this in.

Anyways, I have somebody bcm chicks from Painted EGG farms shipping June 18th, and even though they won’t be laying eggs for quite some time, I want to be prepared. I plan on breeding these chicks and starting a business of my own. I want to sell chicks and eggs locally. I plan on selling from what I think counts as “from my home”. Sometimes I’ll have people come over to my house and buy them, other times when life is chaotic I may meet up with them in town or something and exchange chicks for cash. Do I need any license or permits for this? Again, it will be fertile hatching eggs and day olds chicks.

Also, within several months of selling locally, I’d like to ship eggs across the country. Eventually I will anybody to ship chicks too. What do I need for this? NPIP certification?? What the heck is NPIP and what do I need to do, and how much does it cost?

Aaaaand here’s some background information y’all may need to determine something..... I’m ordering 18 chicks... let’s say half are girls. 9 girls plus one boy. I also have some chicks right now that I will keep with the BCM flock (I can distinguish between eggs) so I’ll have 12-18 hens all together, but only selling the eggs of about 10. Also, my mother has a flock of her own that is about ten feet from where my birds will be. I’ll never let them intermingle, but they’ll be sharing the same air. Her flock is a bunch of rag-tag barnyard mixes missing a feather here and a feather there, almost all night from random people around town, barnyard mixes, or from the fle market... I have no idea how their health is. Their cools are very crappy too, and their water isn’t the freshest. And there’s two ducks running around too. I also live in Texas. Will I have to fern my mother’s birds checked too??

 

[ChickenCanoe]

NPIP is the National Poultry Improvement Program which was established in the early 1900s to combat the diseases of pullorum and typhoid that had devastated the poultry industry. It is a federal program but administered by the states so every state is different.
You'll have to check the regs for TX. Just google NPIP and Texas to read the rules.
You will have to be NPIP certified to sell across state lines. In MO, you are supposed to be NPIP to sell within the state but people ignore that rule. Since it is state specific, costs vary. Just for the P-T test, it is free in Missouri. They will conduct several other tests at the owners request like HPAI but all tests other than P-T come with a fee.
In MO, every bird on the property over 4 months of age must be blood tested annually. Some states only require a percentage of the birds be tested. In addition to Pullorum/Typhoid, I think some states also require the flock to be AI clean.
I was cautioned to not test for AI. If the test comes back positive, they'll test again and if the second test comes back positive, they'll euthanize every bird on the property. If I had leghorns, orpingtons or other common breed, that wouldn't be so bad, but since my birds are among the only ones in the nation and I couldn't replace them, it would be devastating to lose a rare breed that was resistant to AI.

 

[Rose Quartz]

I can't find the info she shared to me when she was working on getting NPIP. but @Fanci Feathers Marans might be able to help, if no one else chimes in before she's home from work.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

sorryguys, I have no idea what category to post this in.

Anyways, I have somebody bcm chicks from Painted EGG farms shipping June 18th, and even though they won’t be laying eggs for quite some time, I want to be prepared. I plan on breeding these chicks and starting a business of my own. I want to sell chicks and eggs locally. I plan on selling from what I think counts as “from my home”. Sometimes I’ll have people come over to my house and buy them, other times when life is chaotic I may meet up with them in town or something and exchange chicks for cash. Do I need any license or permits for this? Again, it will be fertile hatching eggs and day olds chicks.

Also, within several months of selling locally, I’d like to ship eggs across the country. Eventually I will anybody to ship chicks too. What do I need for this? NPIP certification?? What the heck is NPIP and what do I need to do, and how much does it cost?

Aaaaand here’s some background information y’all may need to determine something..... I’m ordering 18 chicks... let’s say half are girls. 9 girls plus one boy. I also have some chicks right now that I will keep with the BCM flock (I can distinguish between eggs) so I’ll have 12-18 hens all together, but only selling the eggs of about 10. Also, my mother has a flock of her own that is about ten feet from where my birds will be. I’ll never let them intermingle, but they’ll be sharing the same air. Her flock is a bunch of rag-tag barnyard mixes missing a feather here and a feather there, almost all night from random people around town, barnyard mixes, or from the fle market... I have no idea how their health is. Their cools are very crappy too, and their water isn’t the freshest. And there’s two ducks running around too. I also live in Texas. Will I have to fern my mother’s birds checked too??

Okay, hai. I have no idea how long you have been doing this, or what your setup is, how many birds it can hold, ect, ect.
The very. First. Thing. You need to worry about is how to care for your birds. You need separate pens for youngsters, discouraging broodys, and extra roosters. Your setup needs to be easy to clean and use in the worst conditions like mud, rain, hail, heat things like that. I'm not sure you are going to have to worry about frostbite in Texas? Also, predator proof everything. Hawks, digging animals, even hens eating their own eggs. You need to have a plan of action.
One missing bird, and suddenly you can't fill that order that was placed six months ago.
Oh, and wild birds. Are. The. Worst. I had Starlings for a long time. Bad deal. They poop on everything, carry disease, steal feed. All around bad deal.

You said you want to have up to 12 birds, but in my opinion, that isn't enough. Some will lay every other day, and sometimes you need eggs now. Since eggs are generally bought in dozens, you need to be prepared to give someone a dozen eggs. I find 15 hens to be a good starting point. You will probably need two roosters unless it is a spy young production strain like a leghorn that can run all day long.

Always be prepared for more chickens. Chicken math happens. It is real. You lose bird, and you have to hatch 20. No way around it. Its rediculous.

You mentioned feeders and waterers not being clean, so you are well aware of that probablem. I reccomend tube feeders and waterers because they are just so awesome. They save money on feed, wild animals can't get to it, and the hens can't poop in it. Sooo many problems solved.
The problems with the feeder is sometimes the roos with big combs have trouble getting feed efficiently, and the waterers are about useless in freezing weather. And they are also expensive and don't hold much.

Okay, now with all that out of the way, let me answer your question. (Yay!)
NPIP is a government-run program. Ever hear the term 'the wheels of Justice turn slow'? Well, the wheels of the NPIP certification guy turn slow, too. Just plan on him not calling for a month or two. I'm not saying that they aren't on time when they actually schedule something, it just may take a little while for them to get to you.
To contact them, I just e-mailed a friend in my state's department of agriculture representive, and he gave me the contact information for the NPIP guy. I don't even know if NPIP has a website. Do they? I don't know, look it up. Anyway, contact them asap, because you could be waiting a month or two.
NEXT, and this is very important, once you have been certified, they will send you a packet in the mail a week or so later (because slow snail mail) and you will have to order a VZ-8 form or something like that. It also comes via snail mail. Once you have these forms, you staple it on the box and ship all over the good ol USA.

One thing I am unsure about is vet signatures. Sometimes you have to have a vet come out and charge you a whole butt load of money just to tell you what you already knew (birds are healthy, eggs are clean, happy chicks) only for that signature to expire in a month's time.
When do you need to accomplish this major pain-in-the-butt? Mostly just when shipping out of the U.S. or adult birds. Is it worth the time, money, and stress? No, not unless said vet actually finds that your birds are sick and you have to nurse your poor babies back to health. So unless you are shipping a really expensive order (say $100 or more) I would not bother with this.

Oh, and I would also not ship live chicks. USPS is... not nice to chicken children.
If you do want to brave this, just know that they will refund your order if it is very late. I think maybe 24-48 hours?

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

Sorry for the long post. Here is a potato.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

NPIP is the National Poultry Improvement Program which was established in the early 1900s to combat the diseases of pullorum and typhoid that had devastated the poultry industry. It is a federal program but administered by the states so every state is different.
You'll have to check the regs for TX. Just google NPIP and Texas to read the rules.
You will have to be NPIP certified to sell across state lines. In MO, you are supposed to be NPIP to sell within the state but people ignore that rule. Since it is state specific, costs vary. Just for the P-T test, it is free in Missouri. They will conduct several other tests at the owners request like HPAI but all tests other than P-T come with a fee.
In MO, every bird on the property over 4 months of age must be blood tested annually. Some states only require a percentage of the birds be tested. In addition to Pullorum/Typhoid, I think some states also require the flock to be AI clean.
I was cautioned to not test for AI. If the test comes back positive, they'll test again and if the second test comes back positive, they'll euthanize every bird on the property. If I had leghorns, orpingtons or other common breed, that wouldn't be so bad, but since my birds are among the only ones in the nation and I couldn't replace them, it would be devastating to lose a rare breed that was resistant to AI.

Oh, cool! What breed do you raise? Did you import them?
I also didn't know that they offered any other kind of tests. Does it have any benefits besides just knowing that your birds are healthy?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Oh, cool! What breed do you raise? Did you import them?
I also didn't know that they offered any other kind of tests. Does it have any benefits besides just knowing that your birds are healthy?

Being NPIP doesn't mean you have healthy birds. It just means your birds haven't had exposure to Pullorum or Typhoid. They could just as easily be afflicted with any of hundreds of other diseases. P and T are devastating diseases (like HPAI) that can spread like wildfire and wipe out the poultry industry.
The main benefit is that you can ship birds and eggs across state lines.
My breed, black Penedesenca was imported in the early 2000s. I didn't import them and it took me years to find some. I got some from three sources and now I'm pretty sure I have the largest collection in North America. My plan is to import more but that will require multiple trips to Spain. Sadly, last summer, the person that saved them from extinction, Dr. Fransech died. He would have been very instrumental in connecting me with breeders of the classic black variety.