Polish Breeders Club

What does NPIP Clean mean and how does one obtain it?

Sandy

Sandy at 08:07PM on Sep 09, 2009

What does NPIP Clean mean and how does one obtain it?

Sandy

The term NATIONAL Poultry Improvement Plan is a misnomer- as the requirements and costs vary state by state.  Here in Washington, they charge us $85 an hour from the time the State Vets leave the capitol until they return.  Hundreds of dollars depending on where you live.  This is just for the premises inspection, the actual blood testing costs are additional.  Basically, you are testing for Salmonella pullorum- a disease that can be egg-borne, so is of great concern to the commercial poultry industry.  Depending on where you live, you may be able to qualify to test your own birds and so receive NPIP certification at a reasonable cost.  If so, you have my envy.

here in MD there are many people trained to test birds. The state even trains people oce or twice a year.

Jeremy

My goodness!

I'm glad I live in Kentucky! Here in Kentucky they inspect your poultry premises and your coops and houses and test your birds for free to get certified. They will also come out and test your birds for AI for free if your going to a state that requires that. The first time I went to a show I was not NPIP certified but they came out and tested the birds I was taking to show for free. Seems like an awful lot of money to pay considering all the taxes we are paying and with the government promoting this certification you would think the price would be more reasonable if they are going to charge you. It's odd isn't it, how much the states differ for this certification. If you have several birds that could get quite expensive. Sue was out here for at least 3 hours.

I was told that in Kentucky only  a state tester can certify you. Not even a vet can do it.

Donna McCormick Bluegrass Bantams at 06:17PM on Sep 10, 2009

I was told that in Kentucky only  a state tester can certify you. Not even a vet can do it.

It's also free of charge here in Alabama. The inspector even calls you to set up an appointment. Nice people to deal with, I had an inspection done yesterday. Sounds like they are trying to discourage breeders from getting tested by charging so much in some states. I heard Texas is also tough. That's working againist the program the government started themselves. Wake up politicans.  

Hi,

 I know people that have gotten birds tested in other states so as to not pay the expensive price.

Jeremy

Jeremy at 09:23AM on Sep 11, 2009

Hi,

 I know people that have gotten birds tested in other states so as to not pay the expensive price.

 

Jeremy

How in the heck could you do that?

Your name and address is on the papers and on the entry forms.

Your name and address is registered with your states Dept. of agriculture and the the USDA.

I jsut ahve to toss in my 2 cents here as I envy you all! I live in Wisconsin and from what I understand we have the strictest requirements when it comes to NPIP. The state certifies testers only once every 3 years. Regardless of how long  you have been certified you must complete a "exam" before you are recertified. You also pay for the recertification! Keep in mind, we are helping the state. What did that recertification get you.... nothing more than the security to do the tests. You still must jump through the hoops. Before you can even test poultry here the farm must have a Premise ID (this is Wisconsin equivilent of the federal NAIS system which hopefully for all you goes nowhere!). This program is "optional" for all livestock owners; however, it is illegal to transport or sell fowl products that are not pullorum free. Again, notice products, that inlcudes eggs. Now if a certified tester tests birds that do not belong to a registered location we loose our certification after 1 warning. So logically that optional program really is not optional unless your products never leave your premise. Then comes the NPIP portion. You file papers with the state, get an inspection which includes all receipts of purchases and sales. They also make you account for each bird in the flock. Then you pay the fee for a yearly permit which is $45 for a hobbyist or $90 if you have less than 5000 breeding birds. However a hobbyist can not have birds that produce eggs. Um HELLO! All chickens produce eggs, so there goes anyone qualifying for that level. The state vet was questioned on this as well and he agreed that nobody can qualify. Now, when it comes time to recertify in a year, you must go through the same inspection process again, which again includes all sales and purchase records. With this, we can only purchase birds from NPIP flocks, and if they find birds in the flock that are not from an NPIP source, your entire flock is subject to depopulation and they warn you that there is not a warning for this. So as you can imagaine, I really do envy you all!

PS - I have had people from Texas make the comment to me that they thought they had it tough. After hearing about Wisconsin they are much happier to deal with their program!

Jeremy

Yikes! Jeremy, that is a draconian system. What's behind it, do you know? Does WI have a huge commercial poultry industry, or something? Or just power-mad beaurocrats in charge of writing the regs?

Best - KR

Personally I think it is option, but that power mad man will disagree! He is the one that removed the waiver for youth programs, so now they also must meet these requirements or they can not participate in county fairs either. One way around that though, most of the birds come through me so we can track their disease status.

It truly is a nightmare!

Here in Kansas you can pay 10.00 watch a video and  take a test and if you pass you are a certified PT tester (after u pay 20.00 more to the state) . I test my own birds and send in a annual test report any pay 1.00 . The state test for A.I for free. so it may be cheaper to get certified as a tester .

Marcos