USDA - APHIS Health Certificate

[MyDream Hatcher]

First of all I am sorry I honestly confuse as where to put this thread.

Me and some friends founded a Turkey enthusiasts club and we somehow come to a project to import pure breed Turkey chicks as we have tried individually without any success. It has always been that the breeder or hatchery does not have Export License while Indonesian Department of Agriculture only requires Health Certificate issued by USDA - APHIS accredited veterinarian.

I have a friend who will visit her son and daughter in law in LA from this October to next year March and we plan to ask her to bring the turkey chicks with her. I have sent an e-mail to USDA - APHIS California Area Office but have received no respond. Should I send them letter by fax or can anyone here advice me a proper way to apply for a vet check by USDA - APHIS accredited vet?


Best regards,
Yukie - Indonesia

 

[Oregon Blues]

Each state will have their own federal APHIS office. That is a federal vet and not a state vet, but the federal government keeps a veterinarian in each state.

To get an APHIS health certificate, the bird actually goes to a local veterinarian. The local vet issues a health certificate which is sent to the APHIS vet and then the APHIS vet issues their supporting document.

The airlines will also require health papers, and you will need to contact the airline that you will use, because they tend to each have their own requirements.

Have your friend contact a local veterinarian and the local vet contacts the federal vet and makes arrangements. Generally, you do not contact the APHIS vet directly (I have, for shipping dogs, and they were nice as can be, but I also had to get the exams and paperwork through my local vet)

The only airline I have spoken to about flying poultry said each bird needs its own compartment that is big enough for the bird to stand up and turn around. Except that geese can go 2 to the same compartment. Day old poults can probably all go together, if you happen to be shipping day old poults.

Whatever is required for shipping poultry will be set by the country that is receiving them. There are no requirements for taking birds out of the USA. But they must meet the requirements of the country that they are going into. The APHIS vet will look that up so that they know what sort of health certificate to use.

 

[Oregon Blues]

A hatchery will most likely not want to bother with it, because it involves a lot of extra work. If you are going to the expense of importing birds, I suggest that you start with better birds than you would get from a hatchery, anyway.

So you need to be looking for a private hobby breeder who breeds show quality turkeys and who is willing to give you a little extra help. There are lots of poultry breeders in California, so you should be able to find someone.

You probably need a breeder who is NPIP certified. They are raising birds under the supervision of the state veterinarian, so the state vet can tell the federal vet that the birds are healthy and then the federal vet will issue your shipping papers.

 

[MyDream Hatcher]

Thank you for your very kind respond Oregon Blues,

In Indonesia we only have 1 or 2 major hatcheries providing layer and broiler chickens so yes, I suppose we would like a better quality birds.

As for USDA - APHIS Health Certificate I have checked their website and it says to locate an USDA - APHIS accredited vet we could contact local area office or ask our vet if he/she is USDA - APHIS accredited.

I think I will try your suggestion to find a NPIP certified breeder in LA, thank you very much.

best regards,
Yukie - Indonesia

 

[Narragansett]

Actually, some of the hatcheries do ship out of the country. They already have the protocols in place to provide the necessary paperwork, so it might not be all that difficult. Also, few hobby breeders of turkeys hatch in the numbers needed to put together a shipment of poults that will be worth the time and effort, but the hatcheries do. Finally, you'd be surprised at the quality you can get in turkeys from some hatcheries. It's overall much better than most other species of poultry, certainly much much better than the quality of the average hatchery chicken. It is not unheard of for an occasional hatchery turkey in the US to do very well in the show hall.

 

[MyDream Hatcher]

Actually, some of the hatcheries do ship out of the country. They already have the protocols in place to provide the necessary paperwork, so it might not be all that difficult. Also, few hobby breeders of turkeys hatch in the numbers needed to put together a shipment of poults that will be worth the time and effort, but the hatcheries do. Finally, you'd be surprised at the quality you can get in turkeys from some hatcheries. It's overall much better than most other species of poultry, certainly much much better than the quality of the average hatchery chicken. It is not unheard of for an occasional hatchery turkey in the US to do very well in the show hall.

Really? Well, not those major hatcheries that I sent messages to, they don't....

So, could you suggest me anyone in LA? As we do not expect to import quite often, great quality turkey poults will be a dream come true.

best regards,
Yukie - Indonesia

 

[Grand-hen-ma]

Hello, I'm not sure this is the right place to ask, but I hope it's ok? I live in Hudson Florida and have been looking for turkeys. Is there anyone in my area that has any to sell? If anyone knows, can you please email me at raven355@ msn.com

Also I am lookin for BO and Japanese chickens.

Thank you

 

[MyDream Hatcher]

Hello, I'm not sure this is the right place to ask, but I hope it's ok? I live in Hudson Florida and have been looking for turkeys. Is there anyone in my area that has any to sell? If anyone knows, can you please email me at raven355@ msn.com
Also I am lookin for BO and Japanese chickens.
Thank you

It's a different state, isn't it?

 

[Oregon Blues]

As long as someone is going to hand carry the poults to the airport and they are going to go straight onto the plane, they should be OK with just a heat pack. They won't be in transit nearly as long as they would be if they were mailed.So you would not have to have 25 poults.

Besides with an advanced order, most breeders should be able to hatch out a custom order of 20-25 poults. I would try to get a mixed order with 3-4 different breeds. Maybe you can find a breeder who will custom hatch some poults with his own eggs plus some shipped eggs of a different breed.

Did you contact Porter's turkeys? That's just about the only hatchery that I would recommend for turkeys.

I'll take a look in my Poultry Press and see if a any turkey breeders are listed in Southern California. The only person that I know personally that raises show turkeys is in Central Oregon and about 1600 miles from Los Angeles.

 

[MyDream Hatcher]

As long as someone is going to hand carry the poults to the airport and they are going to go straight onto the plane, they should be OK with just a heat pack. They won't be in transit nearly as long as they would be if they were mailed.So you would not have to have 25 poults.

Besides with an advanced order, most breeders should be able to hatch out a custom order of 20-25 poults. I would try to get a mixed order with 3-4 different breeds. Maybe you can find a breeder who will custom hatch some poults with his own eggs plus some shipped eggs of a different breed.

Did you contact Porter's turkeys? That's just about the only hatchery that I would recommend for turkeys.

I'll take a look in my Poultry Press and see if a any turkey breeders are listed in Southern California. The only person that I know personally that raises show turkeys is in Central Oregon and about 1600 miles from Los Angeles.

I think I did before I knew my friend will visit her son... Now that we have this plan I have just sent them another message. Unfortunately there's no fax number, while international direct dial rate in Indonesia is the world's most expensive.....

So, I think I can only wait for them to respond, now.

By the way, there's another thing that I do concern about. These poults will have a 24 hours flight to Indonesia. Do you think DOTs will be strong enough? I mean first they will have to fly to LA, let's say we can arrange to have them sent to LAX by the day my friend will fly back to Indonesia - then another flight to Indonesia. Advice please

best regards,
Yukie