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NPIP certification: How to know if your breeder or hatchery is safe to buy from

Bri Wyzard

Are you considering buying your chicks from a breeder, farm, or small hatchery?

Maybe you want to buy local. Maybe you want a very specific variety of a specific breed that’s not easy to find. Or maybe you want chickens that have been bred to be show-quality. These are all good reasons to buy from sellers with smaller setups than giant commercial hatcheries.

But buying from smaller setups can come with increased risks. In this article, you’ll learn how to best mitigate these risks.

Are breeders and small hatcheries safe?

Breeders and small hatcheries vary quite a bit in quality and safety. The biggest thing you need to be concerned about is disease, and this is especially important if you live in a different state or area than the seller. And it’s even more important if you already have chickens.

The last thing you want to do is bring a new illness into your area, or bring in illnesses that your existing chickens have no immunity against.

The very first thing you want to do before buying chicks is check to see if the breeder or hatchery is NPIP certified.

What is NPIP Certification?

NPIP is an acronym for the National Poultry Improvement Plan.

From the USDA website:

“The NPIP is a voluntary State–Federal cooperative testing and certification program for poultry breeding flocks, baby chicks, poults, hatching eggs, hatcheries, and dealers.”

And further:

“The objective of the NPIP is to provide a cooperative State–Federal program through which new technology can effectively be applied to the improvement of poultry and poultry products by establishing standards for the evaluation (testing) of poultry breeding stock, baby chicks, poults, and hatching eggs with respect to freedom from certain diseases.” 

In English, please.

Essentially, NPIP certified hatcheries and breeders are monitored by the government to ensure their flocks aren’t infected with some of the deadliest poultry diseases.

All NPIP certified hatcheries and breeders regularly allow their chickens to be tested for pullorum and fowl typhoid—these are terrible illnesses that can wipe out entire flocks.

In the video below, you can see a Buckeye chicken undergoing some testing for NPIP certification.

And there are also additional certifications for other illnesses that hatcheries and breeders can get in addition to the pullorum and fowl typhoid certifications.

For example, some of the additional certifications are:

  • Avian influenza

  • Chronic respiratory disease (Mycoplasma gallisepticum)

  • Infectious synovitis (Mycoplasma synoviae)

  • Salmonella Enteritidis (the cause of Salmonella food poisoning in humans)

I, personally, would never buy chickens from any source that didn’t have at least the minimum NPIP certifications (pullorum/typhoid).

And the more certifications a breeder or hatchery has bothered getting, the more comfortable I am.

However, you do need to realize that just because a breeder or hatchery is certified, even for several diseases, doesn’t mean your chickens will be disease-free. There are plenty of diseases the NPIP does not test for. However, it does mean that the breeder or hatchery is jumping through a lot of hoops to be safe, and are, therefore, likely a good source to purchase from.

What if a breeder or hatchery isn’t NPIP certified?

Some breeders and hatcheries have perfectly healthy chickens, but just don’t want to go through the hoops of NPIP certification. Other breeders and hatcheries may be selling out every year anyway, and so they have no incentive to join the program.

Just because a breeder or hatchery isn’t NPIP certified doesn’t mean your chickens will be carriers of horrible diseases. But… it could mean that.

So, if you’re tempted to buy from someone who isn’t NPIP certified, you’ll want to be extra certain that person or company is reputable. (And, actually, I advise you to do this even if they are NPIP certified.)

See if you can find reviews of them online. Perhaps leave a post on backyardchickens.com or a large chicken Facebook group asking if others have had experiences with the breeder or hatchery. And definitely see if the hatchery or breeder has their own Facebook page with a “Reviews” tab—I’ve found some scary stories about some breeders there.

These steps are by no means fool-proof, but they can sometimes be helpful—especially if others have had poor experiences.

You also want to make sure to ask the breeder or hatchery some questions before buying from them—and actually, it’s a good idea to ask any breeder or small hatchery these questions, NPIP certified or not:

  1. Have you recently had your flock tested for pullorum/typhoid?

  2. Have you recently had your flock tested for avian influenza, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, or any other illnesses?

  3. Has your flock experienced any illnesses or health problems recently or at any time in the past?

  4. Have there been any poultry illness outbreaks in your region?

  5. Do you vaccinate your flock for Marek’s disease or any other illnesses?

Hatcheries and breeders: Are their breeder flocks vaccinated?

That last question (#5) on vaccinations can be important. Many major hatcheries vaccinate their breeding flocks for lots of nasty diseases.

For just one example (and there are many others), the major commercial hatchery, Murray McMurray Hatchery, vaccinates all of their breeding flocks for:

  • Mareks

  • Bursal

  • Newcastle/Bronchitis

  • Avian encephalomyelitis (AE)

  • Fowl pox

  • Pigeon pox

  • Laryngo

  • Salmonella

And, of course, just because a breeder or hatchery doesn’t have these vaccinations doesn’t mean their birds carry any of these diseases. But breeder flock vaccinations are another level of safety that, at the very least, can give you some peace of mind that you’re buying from a safe source.

What it all comes down to is this:

If you’re buying from a source that has several vaccinations and NPIP certifications for their breeder flocks, you’re very likely to be buying healthy chicks. If you’re buying from a source that doesn’t, you’re taking risks.

Is there a place where I can confirm a breeder or hatchery is NPIP certified?

Yes! And you definitely do want to confirm your breeder or hatchery’s status. Here’s what you need to do:

Step 1: Go to the NPIP Participants by State webpage.

Step 2: Click on your breeder or hatchery’s state.

You’ll get a pdf showing all of the NPIP certified hatcheries and breeders in the state and what they are certified for. Below, you can see the pdf for Mississippi.

Step 3: Search for your breeder or hatchery.

If you find your breeder or hatchery, that means they’re at least certified for pullorum/typhoid. If you don’t find them on the list, they’re not NPIP certified.

Step 4: Find out if your breeder or hatchery is certified for any additional diseases.

Alright, this last step is where it gets a little confusing.

You’ll see a bunch of coding in the right-hand columns of the pdf. Most of this coding refers to the types and breeds of poultry the hatchery is certified for, but on the far right is some coding for additional disease certifications.

So, let me show you an example.

In the screenshot below you can a see a few entries from the NPIP certifications in Mississippi pdf. All of the hatcheries and breeders in the list are NPIP certified for pullorum/typhoid.

You can also see in the image that two of the hatcheries or breeders shown have an additional certification for avian influenza (H5/H7 AI clean), and the other two have no additional certifications (they are only pullorum/typhoid certified).

The coding to the left of the certification column refers to the type of poultry that have been certified. So, for example, the entry for Scott and Julie Mc Donald gives the codes “W2” and “R.” “W2” refers to “Mixed Bantams” and “R” refers to “Other Large Fowl.”

You can find this coding information using the NPIP Stock Code keys—the Alphabetical Stock Codes and the Numerical Stock Codes.

And it’s as simple as that.

Other questions you may want to ask your breeder or small hatchery

If you’re thinking about buying from a breeder or small hatchery, you may also want to consider asking some of these questions:

  1. How long have you been breeding your flock?

  2. What conditions do your keep your breeding flock in—free range, small or large run, total confinement, etc.?

  3. From where are your birds sourced?

  4. May I see photos of your breeding flock?

  5. What goals do you have in breeding your flock?

Some breeders and hatcheries may be breeding for looks, others for temperament, and others for egg production. You’ll want to make sure their goals align with yours.

If you’re really looking for chickens with specific traits, make sure you ask about those too. For example, you could ask things like:

  • When do your chickens come into lay and how many eggs do they lay?

  • What are your chickens’ temperaments? Does the flock have aggressive roosters?

  • Do your hens go broody (i.e., Do they want to hatch their eggs)?

  • Are your chickens show-quality?

The possibilities are endless! Make sure you’re getting exactly what you want. (Or maybe you’re like me, just happy with any chicken!)

If you need help figuring out which breeds are right for you, take my quiz to find your perfect breeds!

Sources

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