Studies in Hatchery Sanitation

Abstract

INVESTIGATIONS have revealed large microbial populations in many hatcheries despite the application of various sanitation measures. The degree of contamination was first measured numerically by the microbiological examination of hatcher fluff, a method developed by Wright et al. (1959), and later by the air sampling technique, Anonymous (1960), Chute and Gershman (1961) and Gentry et al. (1962). The results by both methods have indicated that the sanitary status of many operations is sub-optimal. While the tests reveal the magnitude of the contamination in the hatching environment, they do not indicate where the organisms come from, how they reach the hatchers nor where they multiply. This information can only be gained by periodically surveying the microbial populations of the many objects and surfaces which may harbour microorganisms in the hatchery. To do this by conventional methods for determining plate counts of adequate numbers of sites on these surfaces would be too…