The ABC of cleaning a poultry structure

[David Njaaga, Standard]

How often do you clean your poultry house? Weekly? Once a month? Many farmers do not see the importance of being keen on biosecurity measures, that is tied to hygiene issues. To start off, bio stands for life or living organisms, while security refers to the state of being free from danger, damage, or fear. So, biosecurity can be defined as a living organism free from danger, damage, fear and by extension disease and death. To keep the flock healthy and disease free, it is good to provide a clean environment in the housing units. Is cleaning and disinfection enough? In any poultry production system, there are three options available to our farmer to try and keep the flocks safe. She can either disinfect premises surrounding the flocks, protect them by vaccination or medicate birds as soon as they become sick.