Eggshell microbiology and quality of hatching eggs subjected to different sanitizing procedures

Winnie Luiza Dos Santos Clímaco,Nelson Carneiro Baião,Maria Fernanda Vieira Da Silva Pinto,Leonardo José Camargos Lara,Marcelo Resende De Souza,Felipe Machado De Sant’Anna,Diego Pereira Vaz,Letícia Carolina Cleto Fernandes,Letícia Goulart De Oliveira,Mariana Masseo Saldanha,Érica De Faria Melo

doi:10.1590/s0100-204x2018001000011

Winnie Luiza Dos Santos Clímaco, Nelson Carneiro Baião + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0100-204x2018001000011

Copy DOI

Abstract

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different disinfection procedures as alternatives to formaldehyde fumigation on eggshell microbial load and quality of eggs from a 42-week-old Cobb commercial breeder flock. A total of 10,080 clean eggs collected from the nests were randomly distributed in a randomized complete block design, among the following treatment groups: 13.33 g m-3 formaldehyde fumigation, 5-10 ppm ozone fumigation, 6.36 mW cm-2 UV-C light irradiation, spraying with 1.56% hydrogen peroxide, spraying with 0.13% peracetic acid, spraying with water (wet control), and no disinfection procedure (dry control). Per treatment, eight samples of four eggs each were collected before and after the disinfection procedure, in order to count the number of Enterobacteriaceae and total aerobic mesophilic bacteria on the eggshell. Only eggs subjected to the formaldehyde and UV treatments showed a significant reduction in total aerobic mesophilic bacterial count on the eggshell, when compared with those of the dry control group. Treatments did not affect eggshell thickness and resistance force. UV light exposure is effective in reducing microbial load on 42-week-old breeder flock eggshells, without affecting their quality, and can be considered an alternative to formaldehyde disinfection.

Highlights

The disinfection of fertile eggs is fundamental to prevent bacteria spreading from broiler breeder flocks to their offspring (Spickler et al, 2011)
Among the different disinfection procedures, only the eggs subjected to the formaldehyde and UV treatments showed a significant reduction in the counts of total aerobic mesophilic bacteria in relation to the control group (Table 1)
Eggshell contamination by total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, before any disinfection procedure, varied between 3.17 and 3.57 log10 colony-forming units (CFUs) mL-1, corroborating the results observed by Coufal et al (2003) for eggs collected from nests

Summary

Introduction

The disinfection of fertile eggs is fundamental to prevent bacteria spreading from broiler breeder flocks to their offspring (Spickler et al, 2011). The embryo yolk sac and neonatal chicks are mainly contaminated in the laying environment by bacteria that can colonize the eggshell and penetrate into the egg through its pores (Cortés et al, 2004). Even eggs from clean nests have a certain amount of microorganisms on the eggshell that, under favorable growth conditions, may compromise the hatchability and health of neonatal chicks. On these eggshells, total aerobic mesophilic bacteria count can reach 3.75 to 7.07 log colony-forming units (CFUs) per egg (Coufal et al, 2003; Zeweil et al, 2015). Reducing the eggshell microbial load through disinfection procedures would improve the quality of the egg to be incubated and reduce the incidence of bacterial infections in embryos and neonatal chicks (Fasenko et al, 2009)

Objectives

Methods

Results