USDA Releases Poultry 2004 Descriptive Report on Gamefowl Breeder Flocks in the United States

Veterinary Services

September 9, 2005

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) has released a descriptive report, entitled “Part II: Reference of Health and Management of Gamefowl Breeder Flocks in the United States, 2004.” The report was compiled from data collected during the NAHMS Poultry 2004 study and takes an in-depth look at the management and biosecurity practices of gamefowl breeder flocks. Copies of the report have been distributed to industry members across the country.

Poultry 2004 is NAHMS’ second study of the U.S. poultry industry. Layers 1999 was the first national study on poultry baseline health and management. Layers 1999 estimated the prevalence and associated risk factors of Salmonella enterica enteritidis in U.S. layer flocks.

For Poultry 2004, NAHMS conducted a thorough assessment to determine the information needs of the poultry industry, researchers, and federal and state governments. This assessment indicated a need for information regarding bird health, bird movement, and biosecurity practices of nontraditional poultry industries, such as backyard flocks, gamefowl, and live poultry markets. Here are a few highlights from the newly released descriptive report:

Over half of gamefowl premises (55.3 percent) had between 100 and 499 birds, and 7.5 percent had 500 or more birds.

Only 6.8 percent of gamefowl premises were located within 1 mile of a commercial operation.
Overall, 18.2 percent of gamefowl premises had used the services of a veterinarian in the previous 12 months.
About half of gamefowl premises (47.1 percent) reported problems with external parasites in their flocks, and about one in four (23.9 percent) reported respiratory problems.
Just over half of gamefowl premises (51.5 percent) introduced new birds into the flock one or more times during the previous 12 months.
Overall, 70.9 percent of gamefowl premises had sold or given away live birds in the previous 12 months.
International sales occurred on 14.3 percent of gamefowl premises that sold birds.
Two-thirds of gamefowl premises (69.9 percent) took birds to locations where other birds were present and returned them to the flock in the previous 12 months.
The most common reason for having birds was for fun/hobby, which ranked very high for 75.9 percent of gamefowl premises
At 46.5 percent of gamefowl premises, birds had been family-raised on the premises for 20 years or more and for 50 years or more on 8.7 percent of the premises.

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