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Record Group Number: 000293
Series/Collection Number: .S 1901
Creator: Florida. State Livestock Sanitary Board.
Title, Dates: Poultry service division administrative files, 1928-1961.
Amount: 2.00 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement: Arranged by year, then alphabetical by subject.
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Biographical/Historical:     The State Live Stock Sanitary Board was created in 1923 (Ch. 9201, Laws) to regulate Florida's livestock industry. With seven to nine members chosen by the governor, the board regulated the import and export of meat and livestock, inspected meat sellers,  and controlled animal diseases such as cattle tick fever, hog cholera, and tuberculosis. The board also appointed a state veterinarian to oversee day to day operations. The first state veterinarian was J.V. Knapp. His successor was C.L. Campbell, who served from 1952-1961. In 1953, the Board's name was changed to the Florida Livestock Board. That Board was abolished in January 1961 and its duties transferred to the Dept. Of Agriculture's Division of Animal Industry (Ch. 59-54; CH. 61-59, Laws).
    In 1935, the U.S. Congress passed the National Poultry Improvement Plan (N.P.I.P.), a voluntary cooperative program between states and the federal government. The goal was to improve the quality and productivity of the poultry industry in four main areas: hatcheries, egg production, flocks, and pullorum eradication. Certifications were offered in each area when a hatchery passed seven unannounced inspections. Once certified, that hatchery could then display the N.P.I.P. seal in advertising and other materials. The Poultry Service Division within the Florida State Live Stock Sanitary was Florida's representative N.P.I.P. agency until 1961.
    Poultry veterinarian Dr. D.C. Gilles was in charge of the Poultry Service Division (P.S.D.). The division regulated the poultry industry, which included disease eradication, overseeing exports and imports, conducting hatchery inspections, and drawing up statistical reports. Gilles was also the state administrator for the  N.P.I.P. He was assisted by five other poultry veterinarians.
    Pullorum, also known as Bacillary White Diarrhea, is a fatal disease that infects chicks. It can be spread through infected hens, unclean equipment and brooder houses, and other chicks. The disease was a major problem for poultry farms throughout the early Twentieth century, disrupting egg production and poultry sales.
Summary:   This series consists of correspondence, reports, memoranda, and inspection forms created by the State Livestock Sanitary Board's Poultry Service Division providing evidence of the Board's activities within the poultry industry including inspection of hatcheries, supervision of exports and imports of poultry livestock,  eradication of diseases such as pullorum, creation of yearly statistical summary reports, and participation in the National Poultry Improvement Plan. The series also provides information on the state's poultry industry, including the many Florida poultry farms, and on the veterinarian practices of the mid-twentieth century.

Finding Aids: Folder listing available.
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields: National Poultry Improvement Plan (U.S.)
Florida. State Livestock Sanitary Board.
United States. Dept. of Agriculture.
Pullorum disease.
Animal industry Florida
Agriculture Florida
Veterinarians Florida
Poultry industry Florida
Reports. aat
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