Here at EPBI we have a strict quarantine procedure process. The program and process involve birds not from our facility, as we know the birds that are a part of our flock. That said, in order to have a wide variety of birds we do work with breeding partners. We take the responsibility of raising birds seriously here.
Most of the birds not born in our facility start their days in our quarantine nursery. We take the time to evaluate these birds at check in and then immediately in take them into the nursery. We test the birds for a few diseases we feel are most prevalent and harmful to the health and wellness of birds. The sample is overnighted to a disease testing laboratory. Once testing is completed, the birds are then (and only then) cleared to go to the main nursery and are free to navigate our facility like the rest of our birds do. In some cases, we even have breeders test prior to sending and send us the results.
The process of quarantining these birds is pretty intense here; separate tools, bedding, food, and even staff are permitted in the rooms. The birds' weights are observed by our nursery manager while in the quarantine process to ensure the babies are developing at an appropriate rate. The process by which we raise birds here is something we are very proud of. We love sharing the many things that separate the way we raise birds from the ways other bird sources do it. We truly believe it’s this practice that is the foundation for so much of our success in having the trust of our many clients.
Recent example of lab results
Work like that described above is not something that is necessary, it’s something that we believe should be done because it sets the bar for good husbandry. The health and wellness of our birds are paramount to us here and we strongly believe that practices like this are largely why we can feel confident in the quality of the pets we provide to the community.
Our facility was set with separate air handling systems and even includes UV sterilizers to ensure that all air is “scrubbed” for the birds, the staff, and the guests. This process is costly and also equally intense because we want to ensure the proper husbandry is used and that starts with air quality. It is very easy to spot facilities like ours because of how rare they are. Most bird stores have shared zones where they keep all birds confined in order to make easy-to-clean zones for their staff to clean. This may give the appearance of a clean store, but it’s anything but! When you put your babies, your adults, and your large and small birds all in one zone of your building you are exposing the older birds to the new birds that are entering the building. The process to keep all your birds in one section of your building as a bird store is frankly unacceptable practice in my eyes. You can’t throw a towel on top of a ten-gallon tank and throw it next to your other birds and say that your quarantine process is anywhere as efficient and effective as what we do here.
As a “business owner” who has to care for animals as part of the business it’s critical to me to think of the animals first. As I’ve continued to invest and reinvent ways to make things higher end from a point of view for quarantine, it really makes me sad to think of how many local bird stores simply don’t reinvest in their infrastructure.
The EPBI project was started out of the passion that I have for the love of animals. In particular, birds. As I started this company, I truly wanted to create a facility that would be unlike anything I’ve seen. It took years of continued reinvesting and hard work to bring us to where we are today. I’m so excited for our future together tomorrow!
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