Cleaning, disinfection, sanitary break: preparing the next flock

The order of operations

A disinfectant poured onto dirt disinfects nothing: organic matter neutralises it. Hence the order, always the same:

• 1. Empty: birds gone, equipment taken out (feeders, drinkers, brooders, brooder guard), litter entirely removed far from the house.
• 2. Dry-clean: sweep, brush the walls, the beams, the wire mesh, the fans; remove the dust (it carries viruses).
• 3. Wash: water and detergent (soap), from top to bottom, inside of the roof, walls, wire mesh, floor, drainage channels, then the equipment separately; a high-pressure washer saves hours. Rinse.
• 4. Dry: a damp floor dilutes the disinfectant; one day of sun, curtains open.
• 5. Disinfect: approved product, at the stated dose, sprayed on all surfaces (floor, walls, ceiling, wire mesh, equipment), respecting the stated contact time (often 15 to 30 minutes, surfaces wet). Change the family of disinfectant from one flock to the next.
• 6. Sanitary break: the house stays empty, clean and closed for at least 10 to 14 days, longer after a disease (21 to 30 days).
• 7. Prepare: new litter, equipment put back in place, heat lit the day before (level 1).

The water and the lines

The water tower is emptied, scrubbed and disinfected; the pipes and nipple lines are flushed at high pressure, then receive a cleaning solution (descaler then disinfectant, depending on the products available, see level 5), left in contact for several hours, then rinsed thoroughly before the chicks arrive. A slimy deposit in the pipes (biofilm) reseeds the next flock from the very first day.

Insects and rodents: the right time

Darkling beetles (small black beetles in the litter) and flies are treated on the day the birds leave, while the litter is still warm, before they hide in the walls. Rodents are treated during the sanitary break: bait in closed boxes around the house, holes blocked, surroundings cleared for 3 metres. An empty, clean house where the rats remain is not a clean house.

The surroundings and the entrance

The next flock can also be contaminated from outside: weed and clean 3 metres around the house, disinfect the footbath and refill it with fresh solution, wash the boots, the work clothes and the transport crates (which often come back from the market), and forbid unsold birds from being brought back into the clean house. Market crates are one of the main ways diseases get in: they are washed and disinfected before they touch the farm.

Why the sanitary break pays

Two weeks without birds seem like two weeks lost. It is the opposite: most germs do not survive long without a host on a clean, dry surface. The sanitary break costs two weeks; coccidiosis or Gumboro disease passed from flock to flock costs entire flocks. Large farms plan their rotations with the sanitary break, never against it (level 4).