NPIP Certification: How to Get Certified, Testing and Records

NPIP certification means your flock takes part in the National Poultry Improvement Plan through your state's Official State Agency and has qualified as U.S. Pullorum-Typhoid Clean. To get NPIP certified you apply to that agency, band your breeders, have an authorized tester blood test them, then keep records and retest yearly.

NPIP is a voluntary, cooperative federal, state and industry program that began in 1935 to control pullorum disease (APHIS NVAP Reference Guide). USDA APHIS works with an Official State Agency in each state, which runs the Plan locally and may set higher standards than the federal rules (9 CFR 145.2). It covers chickens, turkeys, waterfowl, game birds and ratites, but not doves and pigeons (9 CFR 145.1). Backyard and show breeders usually fall under Subpart E (hobbyist and exhibition poultry), meat-type waterfowl under Subpart I, and game birds such as quail, pheasants, partridge and guineas under Subpart J.

Federally, joining is voluntary. In practice, APHIS notes that the vast majority of states only let poultry in if it comes from pullorum-typhoid clean sources or tested negative before leaving home. That is why breeders who ship chicks or hatching eggs across state lines, sell at swaps and shows, or sell to buyers who ask for an NPIP number get certified. If you only keep layers for your own eggs, you probably do not need it.

Last reviewed: 25 October 2026. Federal rules are quoted from the current eCFR text of 9 CFR part 145; state details are examples only, so confirm yours with your state agency.

1. Find your Official State Agency. NPIP lists every state's contact on its Official State Agencies list. Ask for the enrollment form, fees, test schedule, band supplier and whether you need avian influenza testing as well as pullorum-typhoid.
2. Apply and sign the participation agreement. The agency checks that your facilities, people and practices can meet the Plan, and you agree to follow it for the agency's operating year (9 CFR 145.3(b),(c)). Some states, such as South Carolina, also inspect the premises.
3. Separate and clean up. The participating flock and its equipment are kept apart from any nonparticipating birds, and houses and equipment are kept sanitary (145.5(a)). Other domestic fowl on the farm, except waterfowl, are tested to the same standard or kept separate (145.14(a)(8)).
4. Band and report your breeders. Each bird is identified with a sealed, numbered band obtained through or approved by your state, unless it makes an exception (145.5(d)). Breeding flocks are reported on VS Form 9-2 before the birds reach 24 weeks of age, with breed, sources of males and females, numbers and the classification you want (145.3(d)).
5. Get your birds tested. Birds must be more than 4 months old (turkeys more than 12 weeks). An Authorized Agent, Authorized Testing Agent or State Inspector collects the samples: at least one bird from each pen and at least 30 per house, or every bird in a house of fewer than 30 (145.14).
6. Receive your NPIP number. Once the flock qualifies as U.S. Pullorum-Typhoid Clean it is a participating flock (145.5(c)), and you get a permanent approval number prefaced by your state's code, which you can print on invoices, certificates and shipping labels (145.4(e)).
7. Keep records and retest on time. Buy only from NPIP or equivalent sources unless your state agrees first (145.4(d)), log every purchase, sale, test and hatch, and retest before your classification lapses.

Worked example (sample scenario). A breeder has 48 banded chickens over 4 months old in two houses: House A has 30 birds in three pens and House B has 18 birds in one pen. House A needs at least 30 birds sampled with every pen represented, so all 30 are tested. House B has fewer than 30, so all 18 are tested. The tester runs the pullorum-typhoid test on 14 March 2026 and every bird is negative. The flock stays Pullorum-Typhoid Clean if it is retested within 12 months, so the next test is due by 14 March 2027. If the breeder also holds U.S. H5/H7 Avian Influenza Clean under Subpart E and swabbed 30 birds on 14 March 2026, the next 30 negative birds are needed within 180 days, by 10 September 2026. The kit's testing log does this date arithmetic for you and flags it as due 30 days before the deadline.

Birds going to public exhibitions in a clean state, other than waterfowl, come from Pullorum-Typhoid Clean or equivalent flocks or have a negative pullorum-typhoid test within 90 days (145.53(b)(3)(vii)).

Certification is not a one-time event. To stay in good standing you retest on schedule, keep your premises and equipment sanitary, buy only from NPIP or equivalent sources (or quarantine and test new birds at maturity with your state's permission, 145.4(d)), and keep records open to the state agency at any time (145.4(a),(b)). Noncompliance can lead to removal from the Plan after notice and time to fix it (145.13).

For flocks kept mainly for hatching eggs, a State Inspector reviews records every year: VS Form 9-2, VS Form 9-3 (sales of hatching eggs, chicks and poults), set and hatch records, egg receipts, and orders or invoices, all kept for 3 years (145.12(b)). Hatcheries also clean and disinfect hatchers after each hatch and the egg room at least twice a week (145.6(a)).

NPIP's 14 biosecurity principles (Program Standard E) are formally audited for larger operations, but the same habits, such as a line of separation, wild bird and rodent control, daily mortality collection, clean equipment and safe sourcing of new birds, protect any flock.