It's Your Flock

Backyard flocks can be a challenge to keep if birds are not healthy. Good husbandry and strict biosecurity practices are also critical areas in successfully keeping poultry. Sometimes a flock becomes sick and action must be taken to treat the flock and prevent spread within the flock. GPLN can assist the flock owner with poultry health problems through providing diagnostic services. GPLN will perform medical tests on samples collected from the birds in attempt to determine the cause of the disease problem. If you have sick birds in a flock, contact the nearest lab in the GPLN for consultation on the flock health problem.

Disease prevention is a very important aspect of keeping a flock. Biosecurity is critical in keeping disease out of your flock. The website http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/birdbiosecurity/ provides details on good biosecurity practices. Another part of disease prevention is testing and disease monitoring. Through the National Poultry Improvement Plan, NPIP, your birds can be tested and certified as free from Pullorum, Avian Influenza, and other diseases” Please visit the NPIP section of the GPLN website for more information on NPIP. For general husbandry issues the University of Georgia has a poultry extension service that can answer poultry husbandry and health questions. You can visit their website at http://www.poultry.uga.edu/extension or call 706-542-1333.