Five Benefits of Treating Waterlines Between Poultry Flocks
You can’t really talk about improving the drinking water quality for poultry without also talking about biofilm and the importance of removing it from waterlines between flocks. We dive deeper into what biofilm is in our first Grundlagen des Biofilms blog, but generally speaking, biofilm provides a protective home that helps pathogens resist disinfection.
Here are 5 reasons to treat biofilm between flocks:
- Controlling biofilm significantly contributes to improving bird health.
Drinking water quality and the cleanliness of waterlines play an important role in the general health and performance of birds. Biofilm harbors harmful pathogens such as Salmonella, Pseudomonasund Campylobacter. Removing biofilm from waterlines between flocks enhances your biosecurity program and can protect birds from bacteria and viruses. - Many disinfectants are ineffective against biofilms, leading to persistent infections in houses.
Terminal waterline disinfection that removes the biofilm structure helps reduce cross-contamination between flocks by eliminating harmful pathogens that can reinfect poultry or infect the next flock after placement. Biofilms can quickly disperse and seed pathogens introduced into the water system throughout the house very rapidly. - Biofilm impacts overall water quality and drinkability.
Biofilm associated with drinking water can directly impact water quality and drinkability by causing aesthetic and organoleptic problems such as color, odor and taste degradation due to the chemical compounds released. Our recent biofilm white paper has explored this topic more thoroughly — download it now. - Micronutrients, metals (such as iron), medications (such as antibiotics), and additives (such as organic acids and vitamins) all encourage bacterial growth, which causes biofilm to form.
Cleaning techniques, such as flushing, and the use of on-bird sanitizers may help reduce bacterial growth and temporarily prevent water quality issues, but these practices alone are not enough to eliminate biofilm. - Biofilm kill and biofilm removal may sound similar but are actually very different.
Biofilms can only be managed with a disinfectant and any product that has disinfectant claims must be EPA registered. The EPA’s biofilm kill claim only refers to reduction of specific bacterial populations within the biofilm structure. Most importantly, this claim does not cover the physical removal of the EPS structure from surfaces. Leaving the biofilm structure on a surface creates an ideal environment for recolonization and repopulation very quickly. To better understand these separate claims, download this white paper.
FortiSolve removes biofilm
As producers look to reduce the use of antibiotics and control food safety pathogens, it is imperative to provide birds clean, safe water. Controlling biofilms is an important and challenging step in delivering high-quality water to birds.
FortiSolve is designed to penetrate and remove biofilm from animal drinking lines, kill pathogens within biofilms and inactivate viruses. Our patented PerQuat® Technologie is based on quaternary ammonium compounds (quat) and Hydrogen Peroxide. FortiSolve is also non-flammable and has excellent compatibility with waterline equipment.
Kontakt our A nimal Health Technical Application Consultant to explore what you can do to fit FortiSolve into your biosecurity program and remove biofilms from your facilities.