We have just been informed by the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic laboratory that there will be a charge for some of the testing of poultry. The majority of the testing fees are being absorbed by a grant – but each bird tested will be charged the following rates:
AI AGID – (done on all exhibition birds except waterfowl) - $0.55 per sample
AI VI – (done on waterfowl)- $15.00 per swab pool of up to 5 birds (birds must be pooled by species, i.e. ducks and geese must be tested separately)
Pullorum – (done on all exhibition birds except waterfowl) – $0.50 per sample
So, for chickens & turkeys – the fee is $1.05 per bird that they are showing (this is the total for AI and pullorum testing).
For ducks and geese, the fee is $15 per tube of swabs, and you can submit between 1 – 5 swabs per tube. Unfortunately, this is a significantly more expensive test than the testing required for the other birds, but the less expensive AI tests do not work for waterfowl.
Payment for these fees must be remitted at the time of testing. As a reminder, testing will be conducted at the Small Animal Barn at the Clinton County Fairgrounds on Friday, July 1 from 12:00 noon to 8:00 pm and again on Saturday, July 2 from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. You will need to bring exact change or a check payable to Animal Diagnostic Laboratory.
For those showing ducks – I’m not certain how we can fairly do this – each tube submitted will be charged $15 (and can contain testing of two pairs) – the fee can be split between the two entries – however, if there is only one pair the entire $15 would need to be charged. I believe we are aware of only three pairs that will be entered – so the “fair” thing to do would be to expect that we will need to submit two tubes – for a total of $30 – and the split would be $10 per each pair of ducks.
I apologize for the delay in getting you this information – our original interpretation of the communication indicated that the fees would be completely subsidized by the grant – but we just received information that this interpretation was incorrect.
If anyone has questions, please contact me at 570-726-7675. Thank you.
Bob and Gwen Bechdel
Poultry Chairs/Certified Poultry Technicians
