Commercial Poultry Production and Hatchery Management

OPERATIONAL BIOSECURITY

•  Operation manuals should be developed for day-to-day activities carried out in feed mills, hatcheries, breeding and grow-out facilities incorporating emergency plans.
• Proper decontamination and disinfection of equipment, houses etc., following depletion of flock.
• In breeder farms, all visitors and workers require to shower and use clean farm clothes to prevent cross contamination between them.
• Maintain record for visitors and their purpose.
• In the case of breeders, no vehicles or equipment should be allowed within the farm area from the time of delivery of flock until disposal.
• In commercial broiler unit, a minimum inter flock interval of two weeks is recommended.
• Use an effective integrated pest management program to control pest and rodent through biological, chemical and mechanical means.
• Appropriate program of disease diagnosis and proper vaccination schedule should be implemented.
• In small scale egg production unit, follow all-in-all-out system. If it is not possible, pullets should be obtained from a source free of vertically transmitted diseases.
• Recycling of egg packing materials etc. should be decontaminated at the point of entry of farm.
• Routine disease monitoring procedures like postmortem examination and periodic serum antibody assay to determine immune status of the flock.
• Regular culling of unhealthy, unproductive and diseased birds