Find here our latest articles about biosecurity in the poultry world !
Breeding companies are proactive in implementing biosecurity measures
The primary goal of biosecurity procedures in poultry production systems is to reduce the introduction of infectious diseases into the farm. If an infection is introduced and spreads, the protocols attempt to limit disease spread inside and between farms. Therefore, good biosecurity should be applied at all times and not just during a disease outbreak.
Poultry breeding and rearing facilities need to fully understand the importance of maintaining high standards to ensure the safety and quality of the downstream poultry production chain. Understanding what is going on in terms of biosecurity in breeder farms may be the first step toward making the required modifications to make farms less vulnerable to disease invasion.This study is a quantitative assessment of common practices used by poultry breeding companies to improve the biosecurity of their flocks. Although, the application of conventional biosecurity measures on breeding farms was generally found to be high and agreeable, in some farms it was found inadequate.
Stakeholder preferences for supporting measures to motivate biosecurity compliance in poultry production
The introduction and spread of infections can be better avoided with good hygiene practices. Farmers’ understanding of biosecurity may not be constant and could vary over time. Low compliance is often linked to a lack of knowledge and any decision-making is influenced by a combination of farmer’s prior experiences, goals, financial capability and demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, education, etc.). A study to explore poultry producers’ preferred source of biosecurity recommendations, revealed that contact support by biosecurity advisor (e.g. coaching), biosecurity checks by stakeholder/government (e.g. audits such as biocheck.ugent) and trainings using group discussion method were most beneficial.
Biosecurity compliance in turkey farms: Strengths and weaknesses
Biosecurity practices in poultry production are often known quite well, but compliance is not optimum. To protect the health of turkeys and consumers, and to avoid losses due to diseases, producers (including farmers and farm workers) should adhere to a biosecurity program designed to prevent poultry from being exposed to infections. Ideally a pathogen should be prevented from entering the site and if already present, then good biosecurity should prevent its spread to other parts of the site.
To check the biosecurity levels in turkey farms an online risk-based scoring system was developed by https://biocheckgent.com/en where biosecurity practices are categorized into groups as external biosecurity and internal biosecurity. The Biocheck.ugent tool was launched online in August 2022 and is free to use, allowing worldwide accessibility to evaluate the biosecurity status of turkey farms.
This article is available on Pluimvee : Maandblad • jaargang 57 • april 2023.