Bio Security | Midlandskenyachicken

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Biosecurity is the management of risks to the economy, the environment, and the community, of pests and diseases entering, emerging, establishing or spreading. Biosecurity can be implemented off-shore, at the border and on-farm. By implementing the recommended measures in your day-to-day operations, you will improve your own biosecurity and that of your region, while minimising production losses and unnecessary costs.

Biosecurity is a practice designed to prevent the spread of disease onto your farm. It is accomplished by maintaining the facility in such a way that there is minimal traffic of biological organisms (viruses, bacteria, rodents, etc.) across its borders. Biosecurity is the cheapest, most effective means of disease control available. No disease prevention program will work without it.

What is biosecurity?

Biosecurity has three major components:

1. Isolation
2. Traffic Control
3. Sanitation

Isolation refers to the confinement of animals within a controlled environment. A fence keeps your birds in, but it also keeps other animals out. Isolation also applies to the practice of separating birds by age group. In large poultry operations, all-in/all-out management styles allow simultaneous depopulation of facilities between flocks and allow time for periodic clean-up and disinfection to break the cycle of disease.

Traffic Control includes both the traffic onto your farm and the traffic patterns within the farm.

Sanitation addresses the disinfection of materials, people and equipment entering the farm and the cleanliness of the personnel on the farm.

Infectious diseases can be spread from farm to farm by:

1. Introduction of diseased birds
2. Introduction of healthy birds who have recovered from disease but are now carriers
3. Shoes and clothing of visitors or caretakers who move from flock to flock
4. Contact with inanimate objects (fomites) that are contaminated with disease organisms
5. Carcasses of dead birds that have not been disposed of properly
6. Impure water, such as surface drainage water
7. Rodents, wild animals and free-flying birds
8. Insects
9. Contaminated feed and feed bags
10. Contaminated delivery trucks, rendering trucks, live hauling trucks
11. Contaminated premises through soil or old litter
12. Air-borne fomites
13. Egg transmission

Of all the possible breakdowns in biosecurity, the introduction of new birds and traffic pose the greatest risk to bird health. Properly managing these two factors should be a top priority on your farm.

How much biosecurity do I need?

In order to assess how much biosecurity is practical for your farm, look at these three factors.

Economics
Common Sense
Relative Risk