|
You are welcome to visit us! We do ask though that visits be arranged in advance. If you are flying in, we will be happy to pick you up at the airport.
You will be able to handle the birds that are for sale. Unless it is shipping or race day, you will also be able to go into the test loft and handle birds that are on test or on the race team. Since diseases can be passed from clothing, shoes, hair and hands, we ask that you come freshly showered and in clean clothes and shoes. You will have to wear our boots in the loft.
Please be aware though that the Breeding Barn is permanently closed to all visitors. This also means that our breeders are not available for handling. We have had this policy in place for several years. We keep the breeding flock strictly isolated from the sale birds and the flying teams in order to minimize their risk of exposure to avian diseases. We have four reasons for taking such a strict approach. 
First, we have spent a veritable fortune acquiring our breeding stock. Protecting the health of that investment is a business necessity.
Second, the speed with which viruses and other pathogens can be spread around the world is really quite astounding. By keeping the breeding flock isolated, we give ourselves the ability to repopulate the racing teams or other breeder flocks in the event they should come down with a disease which requires that they be destroyed. Exotic Newcastle Disease (END) is an example of such a disease.
Third, strict adherence to a serious “bio security” program is a solid defensive step against any mandatory eradications that might be ordered by local, state or federal government officials during a regional outbreak of a serious disease (END and Bird Flu are just two examples). Here is an article on why you might want to create a Bio-Security Program of your own.
Fourth, the health status of our breeding flock has a direct bearing on the health of the birds we sell.
We even control access to the breeding barn for newly acquired birds. Before any new birds are introduced to the breeding barn, they must first go through a thorough quarantine program that includes testing and preventative treatments.
We apologize for this inconvenience, but it is a necessary step in protecting the clean health status of both our breeders and the birds we sell.
|
