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NPIP Certified Hens Clean and Healthy

The National Poultry Improvement Plan, or NPIP, is a voluntary State & Federal cooperative testing and certification program for poultry flocks with respect to being clean of certain diseases.

USDA.GOV

NPIP certification was developed in the early 1930’s to help deal with the issue of Pullorum Disease and Fowl Typhoid in poultry in the United States. At that time, up to 80% of all baby poultry were dying from infection by Salmonella pullorum, the bacteria that causes Pullorum Disease. Thankfully, Pullorum Disease and Fowl Typhoid in the United States has been eradicated because of the diligent work in those early years and the development of the NPIP.

The diseases covered by the NPIP are

  1. avian influenza (fowl plague)
  2. pullorum (pullorum disease)
  3. gallinarum (fowl typhoid)
  4. enterica
  5. Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG, chronic respiratory disease, and infectious sinusitis in turkeys)
  6. synoviae (infectious synovitis)
  7. meleagridis (day-old airsacculitis).

Participation in the NPIP program is completely voluntary and Koops Coops chooses to participate every year. Farms usually want to be NPIP certified because many states require that poultry shipped into their state is coming from a Pullorum-Typhoid clean farm and most poultry shows require participants to be certified before entering. NPIP farms can also only purchase NPIP birds.

What do we have to do to be certified?

Enrolling in NPIP means we invite Rhode Island DEM to our property (yes it was scary) to tag, swab and draw blood from all poultry over 4 months old. That includes angry male turkeys, flighty wild ducks, strong Muscovy males and roosters with large spurs that don’t appreciate being touched. The testing is then sent to a lab and in a couple weeks they tell us the results. Should any result come back non negative, then our entire flock will be placed under quarantine until negative results are achieved. If the flock continues to test positive, the positive birds will be taken and given necropsies to see if they are in fact positive.

If the flock is sick then those birds should not be sold. Koops Coops chooses to participate in this government program to help further instill confidence that your poultry are healthy.

In addition, the NPIP has programs such as “U.S. Salmonella Monitored” and “U.S. Sanitation Monitored” that are intended to reduce the incidence of salmonella organisms in hatching eggs, chicks, and poults through effective and practical sanitation procedures. 

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Koops Coops is proud to be NPIP Certified!

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