Studies in Hatchery Sanitation: 4. Effect of Regular Floor Disinfection on Bacterial Populations in Hatchers and Throughout the Hatchery Environment under Commercial Conditions

Abstract

IN OUR previous studies of the bacterial ecology of commercial hatcheries (Magwood, 1964b; and Magwood and Marr, 1964) it was found that the size of the bacterial populations in the hatching machines was directly related to the number of air-borne bacteria in the hatchery. These organisms, which fell on horizontal surfaces such as floors and tables, constituted a reservoir from which they could be made air-borne by employee activity, and, when drawn into the hatching machines they contaminated successive hatches. The bacteria multiplied rapidly in the nutritious fluids surrounding the emerging chicks. As the chicks dried off, the dust and fluff particles from the young birds, with adherent organisms, were expelled from the hatchers to spread throughout the hatchery rooms.In experimental studies the role of air-borne bacteria in the contamination of hatching birds by these organisms was clearly demonstrated by Magwood (1964b). The shell surface of eggs incubated in …