Water belongs among media that influence the health and yield of laying hens throughout the lot. Laying chickens need water throughout the lot. Nevertheless, the hygiene of the water and the watering system is often underestimated.

Regulations require that the drinking water used for chicken reared for laying and laying chickens should be of same quality as potable water for humans, regardless of whether it comes from own or from a public source. It is quite interesting that the hygienic quality of water, irrespective of the source, is significantly lower only in halls. The quality of drinking water is directly influenced by its hardness, ambient temperature, microbial contamination of the environment and the source, and significantly also by the hygiene of the watering system.

Biofilm is formed in the watering system during the whole lot. It is known to be a nutrient broth for various bacteria, algae and passively also viruses and parasites, which usually cause considerable health problems in kept flocks. Most common bacteria present in watering systems for laying hens include, in addition to E. coli, Pseudomonas, Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter, also less known Stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila, maltophilia and also Enterococcus faecium.

Stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila /maltophilia

• G- non-fermenting bacteria
• they cause lower number of eggs laid
• they are causal agent of nosocomial infections
• high resistance to disinfectants and antibiotics
• they actively form a biofilm
• they cause a higher death rate (especially of weaker individuals)

Enterococcus faecium

• G+ bacteria – cocci
• resistant to pH (8.5) and higher temperatures, with high antibiotic resistance
• they cause infections of urinary tract, biliary ducts, gynaecological inflammations => lower clutch
• bacteria have the ability to form a biofilm

The aforementioned bacteria have a latent effect on the economy of breeding both in terms of death rate and the clutch.

So how to ensure the best possible cleanliness of the watering system? There are two variants.

The first option is to fill the watering system with a cleaning agent, mostly based on hydrogen peroxide or organic acids, after the end of the lot. Such preparations kill most bacteria, but do not solve the problem of biofilm or resistant bacteria such as Bacillus cereus or Stenotrophomonas. Unfortunately, the retained biofilm is still active and act as a nutrient broth for further growth of microorganisms.

The second, more effective variant includes mechanical cleaning of the watering system, namely by means of pulsed cleaning with Tekro Clean equipment and subsequent disinfection with Biocid 30 preparation in the concentration of 1–2%.

Both variants were tested in two identical halls for laying chickens with the area of 80x15x4 meters. The arrangement includes 5 rows of cages on 4 floors, e.g. 1,600 meters of watering lines. The table compares the tested halls.

In hall A, the watering system was cleaned mechanically using pulsed cleaning and subsequently disinfected by Biocid 30 preparation in 2% concentration with the exposition for 48 hours.

In hall B, the watering system was filled with cleaning agent based on hydrogen peroxide.

These figures show that in the Hall A, the death rate of laying hens was reduced and at the same time the clutch was higher. The costs for cleaning and disinfecting: work by DDD T-force CZK 24,000 plus the price for cleaning and disinfecting agents CZK 5,600, e.g. 10 litres of Biocid 30. The purchase price of the Tekro Clean is CZK 102,000, including the compressor. Cleaning of the whole hall took about 7 hours. The results of the comparative test show that in Hall A the clutch was by 116,920 eggs bigger than in Hall B. At the same time, the death rate in the Hall A was by 2,118 hens lower than in the Hall B.

On the basis of the above figures it is obvious that mechanical cleaning by pulsed cleaning of the watering system in combination with Biocid 30 provided the breeder with benefits in the total number of eggs laid and also lower costs for rendering. The Tekro Clean equipment can be purchased as a cost item “mechanical cleaning of watering system” within the grant 8.F.c. The costs associated with the purchase and operation of Tekro Clean are negligible compared to the benefits for breeders.

Comparison table of results.

Ing. Jaroslav Servus

Consultant, Department of zoohygiene, Tekro spol. s r.o.

Mobil: +420,601,581,858

Email: j.servus@tekro.cz