Hooray! We have our NPIP certification!
NPIP stands for National Poultry Improvement Plan. The intent is to help keep poultry-related diseases from spreading. For the most part, this program is required for any hatchery or breeder that sells birds outside of their home state. We don't have plans to do this, but would allow someone from Wyoming to buy chicks from us.
We aren't really in the hatchery business, but this program protects us, too. We can only bring birds into our flocks that are from NPIP sources. So no stray roosters are allowed here anymore. It closes down our flock, and ensures we aren't bringing diseases in from the outside.
To get certified, the folks at the Avian Program at CSU had to come out and test our flock. They test for Avian Flu and Pullorum-Typhoid. While they were here, I also had them test for Salmonella! We are free and clear! We have a healthy flock! It was a pretty easy test, just a beak swab and a small blood sample from each bird. A few weeks later, my certification came in the mail.
It does pose some extra paperwork for me, I have to retain NPIP certificates from all my purchased birds to keep on file. That's no big deal, to me. But it does mean my flock gets tested and I know we have healthy, happy birds!