Poultry Health Program

About the program

The Poultry Health Program (PHP) is a monitoring program designed to protect all commercial poultry breeding stock in Alberta from the following federally reportable diseases:

• Pullorum disease caused by Salmonella Pullorum (SP)
• Fowl typhoid caused by Salmonella Gallinarum (SG)

Monitoring is focused on 2 critical points in the supply chain – the hatchery and the breeder farm – which includes breeding stock for broilers, egg layers, turkeys, pheasants and water fowl.

Purpose

Though Alberta was declared a Pullorum-Typhoid free area in 1983, monitoring for these diseases must continue in order to retain this status for international trade purposes.

PHP participation is mandatory under:

• Provincial – Hatchery Supply Flock Approval Regulation
• Federal – Health of Animals Regulations

To sell day-old chicks and hatching eggs across the country, all federally registered hatcheries must register their hatching egg supply flocks with the Government of Alberta. Both hatcheries and owners of hatchery supply flocks must comply with the Hatchery Supply Flock Approval Regulations and all elements of the PHP.

How it works

The program provides 2 key services:

Replacement breeder flock registration

To register hatchery supply, hatcheries must submit the Hatchery Supply Flock Registration form (PDF, 193 KB)

Within 30 days of hatch date, send a copy of your completed form one of 2 ways:

Mail

Dr. Chunu Mainali, DVM, MSc
Animal Health Surveillance Unit
921, 6909 116 Street
O.S. Longman Building
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada  T6H 4P2

Email

Scan and email your form to:
Email: [email protected]

Microbiological monitoring

Includes sample collection at the hatchery and on the farm and testing those samples for SP and SG.

Testing farm samples

Farm samples are collected on farm by hatchery personnel, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) staff, or producers. The Animal Health and Assurance Branch will provide instructions on how to collect the samples and package them for shipment to the Alberta government's Agri-Food Laboratories.

Collected samples include:

• replacement chicks
• chick pads / liners
• early mortalities
• first hatch culls
• fluff and litter

Testing results of farm samples will be communicated to the producer, the CFIA and the hatchery. Hatchery sample results will be communicated to the CFIA and the hatchery.