For anyone interested in NPIP certification in the state of GA,
I am going to try and give a brief description of how my
inspection and testing went.
The first thing you will need to do is contact
the Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network
I worked with Crissie Boyd, NPIP Senior Specialist.
She set up my appointment with the tester.
She can be reached at 770-535-5796 or cboyd@gapoultry lab.org
You can also visit www.gapoultrylab.org
If you have less than 300 birds
all of your birds will be tested.
Only birds over 4 months of age are tested.
If you have over 300 birds, they will test
300 random birds.
It cost $8 a year to be enrolled in the program
and it is 30 cents for each bird tested.
The test consist of a blood agglutination test,
which means there will be a drop of blood
taken from your bird, placed on a board, that looks a lot
like a cutting board, and a drop of liquid is also placed on the board.
The blood and liquid are mixed together, if it clumps your bird is positive
for the test, which is bad. If it doesn't clump, they're negative.
The results are able to be read immediately.
This is done to every bird on the property, this test is for Pullorum Typhoid.
The second test is performed in the lab, the tester will collect several drops
of blood into a test tube to take back with him to be tested.
This test was done randomly on my birds,
it tests for M. Gallisepticum, M. Synoviae and Avian Influenza.
The tester gets the blood from a vessel under one of the wings,
he will hold your bird with one arm, hold a wing up and using
a tool with a needle like end and hoop end he will prick a vessel
and then using the hoop end he will gather up some of the blood
and place it on the board. If the bird is also to be tested
by the lab he will collect more blood through this same prick
into a test tube.
Each bird is also banded at the time the test is done with
a metal leg band with an identification number.
Each year the bird is tested it will receive a new band with a new number.
It took approximately 1 hour for all of my birds to be tested,
that was from the time he pulled into the driveway
till he pulled back out.
I had 22 birds tested.
Some reasons to have your flock tested are:
Personal peace of mind, knowing that
your birds are free of these diseases.
Show birds are required to be tested,
the test performed is only good for
3 months, while the one done at your
farm is good for 1 year.
Most birds that have a NPIP band will
not be tested at the shows, those that don't
are subject to the test, so why not have it done at home
where it will be good for a year.
Most states require NPIP testing before you can ship
live birds or hatching eggs into the state.
So if you are interested in selling birds and shipping them
you need to be NPIP certified, and if you want to ship hatching eggs
you will need to be NPIP certified.
Once all of your birds have been tested you will receive forms that need to accompany any bird or eggs that you ship.
To make your testing go as smoothly as possible
I would suggest having all of your birds penned in an area that they
are easy to capture quickly.
Because I free range my birds, I kept them in their coop
and removed each bird one at a time.
Then once the test was completed and the bird was banded
we just let them go in the yard to range,
that way I could easily tell who still needed to be caught and who was done.
I hope this has been of some help or education!
Please email me if you have any further questions!
Thank You
Enjoy your feathered friends.
