Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
and we must also consider the risk linked with backyards.
ENVT (vet school of Toulouse) demonstrated that there is poor risk of AI with backyards except if we are talking about backyards owned by poultry farmers themselves.
moreover talking about Salmonella or Mycoplasma for instance backyards are a critical point.zoning (I assume I use the right English word 🙂 ) is the organisation of the different areas in a poultry farm.
starting from the heart of the production site, we do define so-called production unit(s) (PU). That is the place where birds live. PU is doubly independant: structurally and functionally. It means first that it is totally closed with walls, roofs or fences and that man can not enter a PU by mistake. To enter a PU, people must go through an hygiene room and devices or vehicles if need through a wash and disinfection zone. And it secondly means that there is in a PU only a single flock (same specie, same age).
around production units, we mandatory have a second type of zone which is a buffer zone, so-called professional zone (ProZ). The goal is to limit unessential flows around PU’s. The limits of ProZ physically exists but the quality of fences often depends on the type of poultry farms. Grid for breeders, string for broilers. There is a parking outise the ProZ where vehicles (farmer, advisers…) have to park. And there is a desinfection station for trucks (feed for instance) entering this ProZ. Feed and straw storages should be included in this ProZ.
At the end, there is the public zone of the farm with other parts of it (other animal productions, farmer’s house…)there are 2 topics: direct selling of “dead birds”, carcasses and poultry products or live birds.
in both cases, customers should never enter the production area. Parking and shop must be located in public area. unsold live birds should never go back to the production unit, be maintened in a dedicated house at the entry of the production zone and prioritized for the next selling.It is always essential but even most when the farm is not empty after the external team gets away. For instance vaccination of departure of half of the flock to slaughter-house.
To have these teams aware of best practices, farmers should first offer good facilities to them: enough space, clean areas, visible barriers, hot water to wash hands or shower…
Then clear big boards with pictures would help with implementation of best practices.
And all these teams should be supervised and regularly trained by vets who should organise the collection of farms specific biosecurity measures to prepare the teams.most of farmers are aware of this sanitary issues correlated with cats and dogs. But some of them needs sheep dog’s help in free range ducks for instance.
I think we need improvement first with farmers themselves (changing boots and clothes).Since 2016 and new biosecurity law of September 2021, zoning is mandatory in poultry farms in France. Farmers are to be officially trained for Biosecurity and have to implement both biosecurity register and biosecurity measures in their poultry farms.
Controls exist with French authorities and health charters.as you said, clean and dirty zones of house and house hygiene lock are, most of the times, cleary defined.
talking about farms, we have some experiences with implementation of zones and ways, different between clean (feed and day-old animals supply) and dirty (animals departure and manure). opposite sides of the house. When possible, I think it can help with preventing long-term contaminations and cross-contaminations.1. zoning and barriers. Most often well-applied for house = production unit. Clearly much less applied for buffer zone around production units, so-called professional zone. Too often too small including only feed silos and small concrete slab delimited with a string. Too close to production unit to be protective.
2. crossing zone: in sanitary house, lack of clear limit with a bank. 3 zones system would seem better than classical 2 zones systems. Big issue with machines going inside the production system for straw implementation for instance. About crossing between public and professional zone, lack of efficient disinfection zone.
Mostly due to history of family farms with several animal production and progressive implementation of buildings.in free range farms, zoning of houses (so-called “production units”) is quite often under control with sanitary room. Ufortunately some houses are still not equiped with sanitary room : multiple small cabins farms. It needs central unique sanitary room.
some sanitary room can be too small to organize zoning in it.
But there are 2 extra critical points:
1. access of tractors into houses for straw implementation, expecially in ducks production. Man should avoid it with system staying outside the house because it is too difficult to wash and disinfect tractors every day.
2. access of people or even machines in lands. Sanitary room should be equiped with extra door: one to enter into the sanitary room, one to go inside the house, one to go on the land. And machines should never enter the land during the production period with feeding only inside the house.outside, in our experience, indications should be clearly visible with large signboard and map of the farm on it + clear fences.
inside, we see poster but it seems that guidelines are less explicit inside.
