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r INCUBATOR HYGIENE For Control of Incubator-Spread

Chick..Diseases . By Robert Graham

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. COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

ENSION SERVICE IN AGRICULTURE AND 'HOME ECONOMICS

CHICK DISEASES can be checked

in the hatchery as well as on the farm.

Cleaning and disinfecting hatcheries and forced-draft incu­bators are valuable measures for preventing the spread of PULLORUM DISEASE, NEWCASTLE DISEASE, IN­FECTIOUS BRONCHITIS, FOWL TYPHOID, PARATY­PHOID, OMPHALITIS, and other incubator-spread diseases.

Fumigating clean, forced-draft incubators with formaldehyde at hatching time also helps prevent the spread of PUL­LORUM, OMPHALITIS, and NEWCASTLE DISEASE. Fumigation destroys these germs on eggs and newly hatched chicks. (It does not cure infected chicks.)

Pullorum disease, fowl typhoid, and paratyphoid are often spread in eggs laid by infected hens. Prevention depends largely on (1) using eggs from healthy flocks and (2) good hatchery sanitation.

Newcastle disease and infectious bronchitis are spread to chicks either by direct contact with infected chicks or adult chickens or contaminated equipment and quarters. Prevention depends largely on maintaining the highest standards of hatchery sanitation.

Omphalitis, also known as mushy chick disease, may be caused by anyone of several germs entering the chick or poult through the navel. Proper sanitation in the incubator readily controls this disease.

Best way to prevent incubator-spread diseases

is for operators of hatcheries to use only eggs from disease-free supply flocks and to clean and disinfect their hatching rooms and incubators at

frequent intervals.

Urbana, Illinois December, 1950

Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics: University of Illinois, College of Agriculture, and the United States Department of Agriculture cooperating.

H. P. RUSK, Director. Acts approved by Congress May 8 and June 30, 1914.

CLEAN AND DISINFECT INCUBATOR ROOM

AND INCUBATOR

Remove all dirt

Before the hatching season starts and after each hatch, clean the incubator room and the incubator thoroughly. Take the egg and hatching trays and all movable equipment to the cleaning room. R e­move all chick down, egg shells, dead chick , and other debris from the incubator room and the incubator. Germ thrive on these materials in warm, humid incubators.

Wash or spray walls and floors

Also before the hatching season starts, wash or spray the walls and floors of the incubator room with a reliable disinfectant. This will help ettle the dust, which often carries disease germs.

Disinfect the incubator

For this job follow the method the manufacturer recommends.

Scrub egg and hatching trays

Before the hatching season starts and between hatches, scrub the egg and hatching trays with a steel brush and scalding hot lye water (1 pound of lye in 25 gallons of boiling water) .

Clean trays are essential. Use scalding hot lye water and a steel brush to get rid of all dirt. (Fig. 1)

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Disinfect egg and hatching trays

Disinfect egg and hatching trays with one of the following solu­tions. Anyone of them will kill disease germs on clean trays.

Crude carbolic acid - 7 ounces in 1 gallon of water

Quaternary ammonium compound - use according to manufacturer 's

directions

Compound solution of cresol (U. s. P.) - 4 ounces in 1 gallon of

water

Chlorinated lime - 3 ounces in 1 gallon of water

These disinfectants can be applied by washing, spraying, or dip­ping (see Fig. 2, below). Rubber gloves will protect your hands. Let the hatching and egg trays drain and dry before putting them back in the incubator.

If you have or can get a high-pressure cleaner, you can clean and disinfect in one operation.

Keep disease out of the incubator

Use only eggs from healthy flocks. Do not let people who have handled sick chicks come into the incu­

bator room. They may carry germs on their shoes and clothing. Use only new chick boxes. Do not keep any birds, either

started chicks or poults, in the hatchery.

Destroy all rats, mice, and flie

Dip the dry trays in some reliable disinfectant such as a solution of cresol, chlorinated lime, carbolic acid, or quaternary ammonium com­pound. These disinfectants can also be applied by washing or spraying.

(Fig. 2)

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FUMIGATE EGGS AND CHICKS

AT HATCHING TIME

Fumigating eggs and newly hatched chicks in forced-draft incu­bators at hatching time is recommended as further protection against the spread of pullorum, omphalitis, and Newcastle disease. It destroys these germs on eggs and chicks.

The best chemical known for fumigating incubators is formalde­hyde. It is a gas that is sold as formalin. Formalin is a 40-percent solution of formaldehyde in water.

There are two ways of using formaldehyde: the cheesecloth method and the potassium-permanganate method. Directions are given below. You will probably get best results with the method you can use most accurately. (Most manufacturers give detailed directions for fumi­gating their incubators. By following their directions you will probably be saved the trouble of calculating the number of cubic feet of air space in your incubator and figuring the amount of formalin to use.)

The cheesecloth method has some advantages - it takes about 60 percent less formalin than the potassium-permanganate method, and it requires only two fumigations whereas the potassium-perm an­ganate method takes three. On the other hand, the potassium-per­manganate method causes the operator less discomfort than the cheesecloth method.

Cheesecloth method

To fumigate by this method will take: (1) formalin, (2) a meas­uring cylinder, (3) clean cheesecloth, and (4) wire hooks or a small glass rod on which to hang the cheesecloth.

You will need to fumigate twice during hatching: first when 10 to 20 percent of the chicks are out of the eggs, then 12 to 15 hours later.

When ready to fumigate, see that the relative humidity of the air is about 68 percent (this means a wet-bulb reading of 90 0 F. when the dry-bulb reading is 100 0 F.). The right humidity cuts down the circulation of dust and down, favors hatching, and helps the for­maldehyde do its work.

To fumigate by this method, you do these things: 1. Figure number of cubic feet of air space in incubator (length X

width X height). 2. Measure out lh ounce of formalin for every 100 cubic feet of

incubator space. 3. Dip the cheesecloth in the formalin. Use enough cloth. (It must

take up all the liquid and yet not drip.) Cut off what you don't use. If you like, use several smaller cloths instead of one large one.

4. Hang the wet cloth on the wire hooks or the glass rod near the incubator fans. Shut the door and turn on the fans.

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To fumigate by the cheese­cloth method, measure for­malin into a small container such as a half-pint milk bot­tle, put cloth in the container, and turn upside down. The cloth absorbs the formalin almost instantly. Hang satu­rated cloth like a hammock under screened fans.

(Fig. 3)

When using potassium-permanganate method, put the crystals in a pan big enough to keep formalin from splashing out, pour computed amount of formalin over crystals and close incubator door immediately. (Fig. 4)

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5. Let formalin-soaked cloth stay in incubator for at least three hours. Then take out all the dry chicks.

CA TION: While hatching chicks are being fumigated, k eep ventilating fans running. Don't use old solutions of formalin that have stood exposed to the air.

Potassium-permanganate method

To fumigate by thi method will take : (1) potassium-perman­ganate crystals, (2) formalin , (3) a mea.suring cylinder, and (4) a deep enamel pan.

H ave humidity at about 68 percent (a wet-bulb reading of 90 0 F. when the dry-bulb reading i 100 0 F.).

Time three fumigations 13 hours apart, making the first soon after the first chicks leave the eggs.

These are the steps in fumigating with potas ium-permanganate: 1. Figure number of cubic feet of air space in incubator (length X

\yidth X height). 2. For each 100 cubic feet of air space, use 1 ounce of formalin and

~ ounce of potassium-permanganate crystals. 3. Put potassium-permanganate crystals in an enamel pan big

enough to hold about 10 timeR as much solution as you will use. (Do not use glass or earthenware pans; th e chemical combination produces heat that may break them.)

4. Set pan in central compartment of incubator under the fan. If you have large incubators, you may 'want to use more than one pan. (In some forced -draft incubators, the crystals may be put in a broad shallow pan set in a cabinet under the intake pipe. If you put your pan here, be sure to leave damper in pipe wide open so that gas can pass freely into incubator.)

5. Pour formalin over the potassium-permanganate crystals and close incubator door quickly. Formaldehyde gas is immediately released.

6. Do not open incubator for three hours. Then take chicks out and put them in clean, new boxe or in clean brooders.

FUMIGATION AND CHICK HEALTH

Healthy chicks do not seem to be affected by fumigation when it is done at the time they are hatched. Weak chicks are sometimes in­jured, but injury to them is not important compared with the good that fumigation does in preventing the spread of disease.

Fumigation will not, however, destroy disease germs inside a ch i c~, and it won't cure a ch ick that has a disease.

CAUTION : Do not try to fumigate chicks that are more than 48 hours old.

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STRONGER FUMIGATIONS SOMETIMES NEEDED

Under some conditions double- and triple-strength fumigations are desirable. Triple-strength solutions used before the hatching season starts and between each hatch are needed for protection against both pullorum disease and Newcastle disease.

Eggs will not be injured by repeated fumigations with double or triple amounts of formalin after the first 96 hours of incubation. Do not, however, expose chicks to these amounts. After the chicks are hatched, use only single-strength solutions.

DISEASE CONTROL IS A THREE-WAY FIGHT

In the fight against chick diseases, incubator hygiene is a valuable aid, but it is not a cure-all. To wipe out disease, it is necessary for flock owners, pullorum testers, and hatcherymen to work together.

The flockowner's job is good flock management, including the pur­chase of disease-free stock. Healthy chickens grow only in disease-free surroundings. If surroundings are to be kept disease-free, runways and ranges must be rotated often; idle ranges must be plowed and cropped if possible; poultry houses must be clean, dry, and well ventilated. Rations must be balanced and efficient, and the feed and water should be clean and kept clean. lVIedicine is no s1I,bstit'Ltte for clean grO'Lmd, clean feed, clean water, and clean homes .

The tester's job is to test the blood of all breeding and laying birds for pullorum disease, so that reactors to the test can be removed. Much of the testing in Illinois is done by hatchery workers trained and accredited by the State Department of Agriculture. They are employed by hatcheries cooperating in the state and national poultry-improve­ment plan.

Your job as a hatcheryman is to keep the hatchery free from dis­ease. To do this-

Hatch eggs only from disease-free hens. Keep incubators and incubator rooms safe by keeping disease out. Scrub and fumigate hatching and egg trays after each hatch. Fumigate forced-draft incubators with formaldehyde while chicks

are hatching.

(This circular is a revision and condensa tion of Circular 403 , Incubator II ygiene in the Control of Pulloru1I1 Disease)

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