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Regardless of the number of livestock kept, the chicken coop needs to be disinfected periodically. This measure is necessary to destroy and prevent the growth of bacteria that cause disease in poultry. Neglect of sanitation threatens an outbreak of an epidemic. In sick chickens, egg production decreases, weight is lost. Salmonella is a very serious disease. The bird carries infected eggs that are dangerous for humans to eat. Treatment of the poultry house with special preparations helps to avoid such a problem. It is very simple to disinfect the chicken coop at home, and we will talk about this now.
When and how many times you need to disinfect the chicken coop
Immediately let’s give a definition of what is meant by the word disinfection. This measure includes a certain number of measures aimed at the destruction of pathogenic bacteria. During the life of chickens inside the house, the remains of food, old bedding, droppings and feathers accumulate. Over time, they begin to rot, creating optimal conditions for the development of microorganisms. Mechanical cleaning is unable to ensure the ideal cleanliness of the chicken coop, therefore, to process the premises, special tools are needed, the use of which is meant by the word disinfection.
The poultry house is disinfected once every two months. Additionally, every year they carry out an ideal cleaning of the premises. There is such a misconception that it is enough to sanitize the premises once a year to disinfect the chicken coop. In fact, such labors will be in vain, and will not bring positive results. Whatever you process the poultry house once a year, the threat of an outbreak of dangerous diseases still remains.
Three important steps in the refurbishment of the chicken coop
Regardless of which preparations and actions are used in sanitation, there is a strict sequence of actions. They must be observed if you want to 100% clean the chicken coop from harmful microorganisms. Decontamination of a poultry house includes three important steps:
- Cleaning and washing the chicken coop involves mechanical actions aimed at removing dirt. During this procedure, chickens are expelled from the premises.
- The third stage is the disinfection itself. Usually it is performed in the presence of a bird, if drugs are used that are unable to harm the health of chickens.
So, let’s look at each stage of disinfecting a chicken coop separately, and also figure out how to disinfect a chicken coop at home.
Stage 1 – cleaning the house
This is the simplest, but at the same time very important step in disinfecting the chicken coop. Cleaning refers to the mechanical removal of old bedding, manure and other remnants of the life of chickens. A big mind is not needed here, it is enough to take scrapers, a shovel, a broom, and clean the room from dirt.
You need to clean the entire chicken coop, especially perches, nests and the floor. The poles where the chickens sit can be brushed over the metal. If chickens were fed from wooden feeders, they must be thoroughly cleaned of food debris. It is important to consider that disinfectants are powerless on a site that has not been cleaned of dirt. They will not cope with bacteria, and all work will be meaningless.
Stage 2 – poultry house washing
After the mechanical cleaning of the chicken coop, there is still a lot of dirt left. Litter is strongly absorbed into the wooden elements of the chicken coop, and it should be washed. The entire interior of the house falls under this stage of processing. Especially carefully you need to wash the walls, the floor, as well as the most frequent places where the chicken stays, that is, the perch and nest.
The chicken coop is washed with warm water with the addition of disinfectants specially designed for this purpose.
It should be noted that preparations specially designed for washing the chicken coop contain disinfectants. Often they complement the means used in the third stage of disinfection – disinfection. From folk remedies during washing, it is allowed to add apple cider vinegar to the water, while adhering to the ratio of 3: 2.
Stage 3 – disinfection
The third stage is the main one when disinfecting the chicken coop. Many poultry farmers believe that it is enough to disinfect the chicken coop with apple cider vinegar. In fact, this folk remedy is more suitable for washing, and vinegar is unable to kill pathogens. The chicken coop will be completely clean, but not protected from further development of parasites.
The most common, effective, but dangerous disinfectant for treating a chicken coop is formalin. Improper use of the solution can harm chickens. However, formalin is considered the strongest agent capable of destroying all bacteria. The disinfectant solution is sprayed throughout the house without the presence of chickens. You need to work only in a protective suit and gas mask. Contact with formalin on human skin is harmful, and even more dangerous is its penetration into the respiratory tract. The substance has a bad pronounced odor. In many countries the use of formalin is prohibited.
All poultry houses and livestock farms in the post-Soviet space were treated with bleach. White powder is no less dangerous than formalin, and also mercilessly kills all bacteria. The substance has an unpleasant odor. May cause burns if inhaled. During disinfection, the entire chicken coop is treated with bleach, and some of the powder is left on the floor. The fact is that the substance is unable to destroy all the bacteria in one day, and the chickens will have to live for some time inside the barn with chlorine.
There are many folk recipes used in the disinfection of the chicken coop. One is to mix five parts of hydrochloric acid with one part of manganese. The container with the solution is left for 30 minutes inside an empty chicken coop. During the reaction of two substances, vapors are released that kill harmful microorganisms. At the end of disinfection, the house is ventilated, after which chickens can be launched.
Often in folk recipes, iodine is used to disinfect the house. To prepare the solution, take 10 g of the substance, add 1,5 ml of water, plus 1 g of aluminum dust. This proportion is calculated for 2 m3 chicken coop. Bacteria die from the resulting reaction. During disinfection, chickens can not be expelled from the house, but at the end of the treatment, the room is well ventilated.
The most reliable and safe are store-bought products for disinfecting chicken coops. They contain a complex of components that have a wide range of effects on various microorganisms. Shop preparations are certified. After using them inside the poultry house, an epidemic is guaranteed not to break out within 2-3 months. One of these drugs is Virotsid. The solution is sprayed throughout the poultry house in the presence of chickens. It does not need to be washed off afterwards, since the substance is completely harmless.
The video shows an example of processing a poultry house:
Air purification – as an effective means of disinfecting the chicken coop
Microbes live not only on the surface of objects, but also in the air. To get rid of them, the chicken coop is disinfected with smoke bombs or irrigation. For efficiency, each procedure lasts 3 days, and it is carried out once a month.
We offer for review several ways to purify the air, in which chickens can not be driven out of the house:
- Containers are placed inside the chicken coop. Their number depends on the size of the house. Twenty parts of iodine monochloride and one part of aluminum wire are placed in each container. From the ongoing reaction, smoke is released, purifying the air from parasites. For 1 m3 poultry house requires 15 ml of iodine.
- A similar reaction occurs when mixing 20 g of bleach with 0,2 ml of turpentine. This ratio is calculated for 1 m3 the poultry house.
- The iodine-containing preparation “Monklavit” does an excellent job of disinfecting the air inside the chicken coop. Requires 3 ml of substance per 1 m3 premises.
- The drug “Ecocid” at a concentration of 0,5% is used for irrigation, in which fog is formed inside the poultry house. For disinfection, 30 ml of solution is used per 1 m3 chicken coop.
- The Dixam drug, produced in the form of a tablet, fights perfectly with the fungus. After its ignition, iodine-containing steam is released, which additionally cures pulmonary diseases of chickens. One tablet is designed to disinfect 200 m3 the poultry house.
- Iodine checkers called “Cliodesive” have proven themselves well. They emit disinfectant smoke that is harmless to chickens.
All considered preparations for air disinfection are used in the presence of chickens, after which the house is thoroughly ventilated.
Sulfur smoke bombs for disinfection
Now many stores have sulfuric smoke bombs designed to disinfect premises. The principle of their use is simple: the packaging is removed from the smoke bomb, the wick is inserted and set on fire. The emitted pungent smoke kills all microbes, and even small rodents. An important requirement is 100% tightness of the room, after which it must be thoroughly ventilated. Completely sulfuric smell disappears after a week.
Although poultry farmers are happy to use cheap sulfur pellets, they are ineffective for a chicken coop. The preparation is intended for disinfection of basements and cellars. Smoke destroys the fungus, harmful insects, but not the causative agents of infectious diseases.
The video talks about the disinfection of the chicken coop:
You can disinfect a home chicken coop on your own or call the appropriate services. How best to proceed is up to the owner himself. The call of specialists will cost at least 2 thousand rubles. If you want to save money and do everything yourself, it is better to use store-bought products for disinfecting poultry houses. Many of them are sold in large packaging and inexpensively, so they will be enough for repeated use.