TURNER — State veterinarian Don Hoenig said Tuesday that local egg farms have been getting their young hens from Ohio, which lessens the risk of getting pulled into the massive salmonella outbreak in Iowa.

What’s more, Maine has been vaccinating its chickens against salmonella for at least two and a half years, he said.

Earlier this year, Quality Egg of New England stopped raising pullets in Maine and started importing pullets from Ohio, Hoenig said.

“Pullets that supply the (contaminated) Iowa farm come from a Minnesota hatchery,” he said. “To the best of my knowledge, there’s a clear separation.”

Ohio has breeder and hatchling flocks that supply Quality Egg (formerly known as the DeCoster egg farm) as well as Dorothy Egg Farms and Mountain Hollow Egg Farm, he said. “I’m not aware that we have any Iowa birds.”

Even small, backyard growers get most of their birds from suppliers in Ohio and Missouri.

Maine has stiffer regulations for its poultry than the Food and Drug Administration, Hoenig said. The state requires pullets to be vaccinated for salmonella and to get follow-up blood tests six to eight weeks later.

kskelton@sunjournal.com