Checklist for Personnel 

and Visitors

If you see signs of illness, take action right away! Phone Number

Veterinarian 

Cooperative Extension Office 

State Veterinarian/Animal or Poultry Diagnostic Lab 

USDA 866.536.7593

Whether you’re part of a large commercial enterprise or keep birds as a hobby, 

you and everyone who cares for your flock have a role in keeping the Nation’s 

poultry healthy. To prevent the spread of disease, limit access to your birds and 

property. Everyone who comes into contact with your flock, including visitors and 

family members, should use personal protective equipment to maintain biosecurity. 

If you see or suspect anything unusual, call your flock supervisor, veterinarian, or 

cooperative extension office right away. Use this form to record phone numbers 

for contacts in your area. The earlier you act, the easier it is to contain the disease 

to a single flock.

Report Sick Birds

Check the list on the back for tips 

to help keep your flocks healthy. √

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Checklist:Tips To Help Keep Your Flocks Healthy

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Program Aid No. 2235-3 • Issued November 2018

This checklist is a general guide to practicing good biosecurity, but if you have a 

site-specific biosecurity plan, please follow it. Commercial growers should be sure their 

site-specific plans follow the National Poultry Improvement Plan biosecurity principles. 

√

Maintain routines so that everyone who 

comes into contact with your flock follows 

the same procedures. Don’t be afraid to 

change these procedures if you see a problem 

or if something’s just not effective or practical. 

There’s always room for improvement. 

Offer regular training on biosecurity 

practices to your current employees and any 

new hires. Training increases compliance and 

helps make sure everyone follows procedures 

consistently.

Use personal protective equipment like 

washable footwear or shoe covers, gloves, 

coveralls, and hair coverings when handling 

birds. These items should be worn only while 

caring for your poultry—never elsewhere—

and be changed between bird enclosures to 

prevent disease spread. 

Give visitors and family members personal 

protective equipment to wear when they are in 

contact with your birds. 

For more information about how to keep your flocks healthy, follow Defend the Flock on 

Facebook and Twitter and visit www.aphis.usda.gov/animalhealth/defendtheflock.

Always ask visitors if they’ve been in contact with 

wild birds or pet birds or if they have their own poultry. 

If so, they should not go near your flock. Some avian 

disease agents can survive in a person’s nose, 

without actually infecting the person, for 2 days. 

Clean and disinfect equipment to remove feces, 

feathers, and litter. Disease agents can survive for 

months inside these organic materials, so make sure 

nothing is tracked into or out of poultry houses or pens.

Do not share tools, poultry supplies, or lawn and 

garden equipment with other flock owners or neighbors. 

If you must, be sure to clean and disinfect the items before 

they reach your property and before returning them. 

Know the warning signs of poultry disease,

like changes in how much your birds eat or drink, 

increased deaths in your flock, or general malaise.

Did you know?

Personal protective equipment stops disease spread 

in two crucial ways: 1, it covers up any germs you’re 

already carrying, and 2, it traps any new germs 

you’ve picked up so you don’t spread them to the 

next enclosure.