Sanitation for rabbit and poultry farming

Both rabbit and poultry farming require similar procedures to ensure the highest standards of biosecurity:

• Provide visitors with clean and/or disposable clothing
• Record all incoming and outgoing movements of people, animals and vehicles
• Disinfect all incoming vehicles
• Delimit all breeding areas with nets and gates
• Provide an area for loading and unloading with washing facilities
• Ensure that a period of quarantine is served by new animals entering the farm
• Allow for an “all full, all empty” period

It is essential to place cold storage cells at the external areas of the farm for storage of dead animals which are periodically sent to an authorized disposal plant. The presence of dead animals on the farm is, in fact, a potential source of disease-spreading.

The “all full, all empty” period provides an opportunity to put good hygienic protocols into practice. These activities include control of dangerous insects and the dry-method cleaning of warehouses with air conditioning, cleaning of surfaces and equipment with specific, professional products, high-pressure water-washing and final disinfection.

Watering lines require tank emptying and cleaning, followed by disinfection with correctly diluted solutions of authorized products that circulate round the entire system. Finally, the system should be completely emptied and rinsed before it can be filled with drinking water again.

A unique characteristic of poultry farms is their bedding, which is usually made from straw or wood shavings with the addition of fixing bacteria to limit the release of ammonia. Bedding should be replaced and renewed as needed and completely removed at the end of each production cycle. Once the animals have left the farm, their droppings can be stored and used correctly as agricultural fertilizer.