The group has become known as the Australian Rare Poultry Importation Syndicate (ARPIS).

A formal registration of interest has been conducted, which officially closed in March this year. Syndicate members ordered eggs by the parcel, a parcel being 40 eggs, and paid a registration fee of $100 per parcel. They were asked to nominate the breed/variety(s) of their choice, and we asked them to also include a substitute option, which they might be interested in, if their original selection was not able to be sourced.

It was decided that payment should be made in instalments, which allows us to keep ahead of expenses, without putting undue pressure on the members' finances. The first instalment of $500 per parcel has been paid by the members. There are still a few parcels available in the consignment, so, at this stage, late registrations of interest will be accepted. New members would be required to bring their contributions up to par with the existing membership, i.e; $600 per parcel. The further progressed we are with our arrangements, the more limited the options will be, in terms of the choice of variety, for new members. Moneys paid will be refunded to members if, at the end of the day, the syndicate is unable to accommodate them (e.g; if none of their nominated varieties can be sourced), but there will be no compensation to people who are unable to honour their commitments, or who simply change their mind.

Whilst it hasn't yet been possible, to cost the project to the last dollar, our estimates put the final cost for parcels quite realistically at about $2000 per parcel. Hatch-rates will vary from one breed to another, but the manager at Torrens Island advises that an overall hatch-rate of 50% is a conservatively reasonable expectation for a consignment of this nature. Commercial strains usually achieve about 75% hatch-rate. This would mean an average cost of approximately $100 per bird.

We have negotiated to lease premises, in the UK, which is suitable as a pre-export quarantine facility. Hatching eggs will be sourced from some of the UK's top breeders (we call them supply farms) and taken to the facility to be hatched and raised, to become our parent flock (which we call the source flock). This approach greatly reduces the risk of disease contamination, and allows us to have complete control over the management of the source flock. That means all birds will be the same age, health status, and used to the same conditions (feed, temperature, lighting routine, etc), which will enable us to have them all in peak breeding condition when we need to collect eggs for export. The facility also comes with staff, who are fully qualified in all aspects of poultry husbandry, including artificial insemination (AI). Both facility and staff have been offered to us at a very reasonable rate - one of many kindnesses afforded the project by the British poultry fraternity.

Potential supply farms have been recommended by Fred Hams, one of the UK's most senior Panel A (all breeds) judges, for the exhibition quality of their stock. These supply farms have been inspected by Dr David Spackman, to ensure that their facilities and practices are likely to meet the required health and hygiene standards. Dr Spackman was the Chief Veterinary Officer at DEFRA (AQIS's UK equivalent), prior to his semi-retirement, and now operates his own consultancy. He is one of the most eminent avian veterinary scientists in Europe, and will be supervising the UK side of the operation. His fee has also been heavily discounted. We are extremely lucky to have him on board.

Hatching eggs from the supply farms will be taken into the pre-export quarantine during the height of the 2012 breeding season. Eggs from the resulting chickens will be collected early in 2013 for export to Australia. These eggs will be taken to Torrens Island quarantine station, near Adelaide.

The ARPIS quarantine programme is currently scheduled to commence in April/May 2013. Delays to the operating timetable at the Torrens Island station do occasionally occur, usually due to equipment maintenance and repair issues.

At Torrens Island, the eggs will be hatched and raised with certified pathogen-free sentinel eggs/chickens at a rate of 1:50 imported eggs/birds. The Torrens Island incubators have a capacity of 4600 eggs, plus sentinels, and AQIS will allow us to install a portable incubator (such as a Multiplo) if necessary, to accommodate bantam eggs. The facility has the capacity to raise approximately 3000 chickens.

When they are six weeks old they will be serologically tested, and it takes about three weeks to determine the results. All tests being negative, the chicks will be released to us at nine weeks of age. This means the total period for post-entry quarantine is usually about twelve weeks. Torrens Island has been operating as a poultry quarantine for over twenty years and disease has never caused a consignment to be destroyed.

Dr Paul Gilchrist, BVSc FACVSc, has been retained to provide technical advice, primarily on matters of biosecurity, but his broader experience is also a great benefit to us.

Through his part in the project, Dr Gilchrist has been involved with the current government review into the future provision of quarantine facilities by AQIS. This has led him to undertake, as a professional courtesy, to instigate the development of import condition protocols for other avian species not presently covered. Dr Gilchrist is interested in hearing from anyone who has advice about improvements in technology or husbandry methods for hatching and rearing these other species (pheasants, softbills, parrots, etc). The infrastructure that has been put in place for this project could be used to import other avian species.

I am happy to answer specific queries. I would also like to hear from anyone who is interested in importing ducks, to gauge potential for a similar project for waterfowl, as well as other avian species.

Meredith Parker

Project Co-ordinator,

Australian Rare Poultry Importation Syndicate

 (08) 9885 9171

mrdthprkr@yahoo.com.au