AI issues in various states

[Sharon Yorks]

Just a thought - With all that is going on with the AI issues and precautions in so many states, it may be a good idea to double check with the postal service to see whether or not it is still okay to continue shipping baby chicks - if you have orders on the books. I'd hate to hear that some were turned away along their trip.

[Don]

Sharon,   Sounds like a good idea.  Especially after Ohio and Indiana have canceled any kind of poultry gathering until what appears to be the end of the year.  Is it allowed to ship to and from the states that have banned shows? I am not sure of all the states that have done something similar? 

[Birdcrazy]

Don, Iowa has cancelled all county fair and the Iowa State Fair poultry shows for the year. So far private shows are subject to the organization that is putting them on. Some of those shows have been cancelled. So far in Nebraska quarantine areas have been set up around known A I areas with testing of all private and commercial flocks within the radius. Several local sale barns have stopped all poultry sales for the past month until further notice. It looks like this is really beginning to snowball and future exhibition shows for the year are probably in danger of being cancelled. I did read the latest report from Minnesota last night. They were one of the first 2 states to report an outbreak. There has been no new cases reported in the last 9 days. At least that is encouraging news.

[HarryS]

Well most Post Offices do not seem to notice where from or to chicks are being shipped unless they get some kind of memo to impose some kind or restrictions..  Heard the large hatcheries are still shipping chicks all over the US not positive if this information is correct.  Ebayers are still shipping eggs all over the USA also as well as other sites.  There are many loop holes that would need to be sealed to really correct any problem that would occur.   Then there are the birds that died and are they all really being sent to the state labs for testing in every state.  The backyard flocks generally do not get reimbursed if there is a positive but the commercial operations generally all do so where is there an incentive to send a dead bird to the Labs.  They are still selling birds on some of the auction sites and even Facebook so is the Post Office really monitoring shipments you must aak yourself. 

[Don]

Harry, I agree that the USPS is a typical government agency acting independently.  Unless they are given an directive from the USDA, they are not likely to change anything they normally do.  They are after all federal and exempt from state laws.   It seems to me that the states which have banned shows are more protective of their flocks/companies, and not as worried about what they might export to other states.  Seems like self interest, but until the USDA jumps in, its not likely to change.  And if and when they jump in, I am not sure that we will like what they decide.  We can only self regulate on own flocks and what we send or do not send to others.  That being said, I did have a State Vet team visit me many years ago because they found out through an airline that I had some birds shipped from another state.  So they may be slow to react, but they sometimes notice after the fact.