Poultry farming has proved to be a profitable occupation. But the first and most important condition for profit is keeping the poultry house free of germs and disease. Certain steps must be taken to disinfect the house before chicks are brought in; otherwise the chicks will die.

Poultry experts say that for successful rearing, and for protection against bird flu, the most important thing is to disinfect the poultry house or farm. Every farmer should know the stages of cleaning and disinfection well.

After the birds are sold, spray the whole house with 5 to 10 per cent formalin, pack the litter and other waste in sacks, and take it away from the farm to bury in a pit or burn.

Take feeders, drinkers, hovers, chick guards and similar equipment out of the house. Clean them first with detergent, then with washing soda, and then with a disinfectant such as Virkon, GPC-8, Timsen or TH-4, and leave them in a dry place.

Clean the floor, doors, windows, ceiling, nets and fans first with a stick broom and then with detergent water. Scrape off any litter stuck to the floor.

Clean curtains and other items first with detergent water, then washing soda, then a disinfectant such as Virkon, GPC-8, Timsen or TH-4, and leave them to dry. Burn the floor, ceiling and nets with a flame gun.

Soak the floor first with caustic soda at 1.2 g per square foot and then washing soda at 6 g per square foot for 12 to 14 hours, then clean it and wash with water. Then clean the floor with a disinfectant such as Virkon, GPC-8, Timsen or TH-4.

Coat the floor, pillars (up to 3 feet), walls and the area around the house (up to 3 feet) with a mixture made, for 500 square feet, of 1,000 g of lime, 250 g of bleaching powder, 250 g of formalin, 200 ml of kerosene, 250 g of copper sulphate (tunte) and 5 litres of water; the recipe lists 250 g of formalin a second time.

Scatter lime for 4 to 5 feet around the house and at the farm entrance. Place rice husk inside the house, spray it with formalin and water (9 litres of water to 1 litre of formalin) and cover it with polythene.

Fumigate the house. The materials are potassium permanganate, formalin and four or five clay pots. For every 100 cubic feet use 40 g of potassium permanganate and 80 ml of formalin, so the formalin is twice the permanganate. The formalin must be poured into the potassium permanganate; the permanganate must not be poured into the formalin.

Since most farms in the country are not suitable for fumigation, and potash is expensive now, the house can instead be disinfected by spraying formalin.

In that case, leave the feeders, drinkers, hovers and chick guards inside, hang curtains around the house, mix formalin with water (1 litre of formalin to 5 litres of water) and spray every part of the house thoroughly (floor, curtains, ceiling or roof), then leave it for two to three days.

Raise the curtains around the house three days before the chicks arrive. These steps must be completed to disinfect the house before chicks are brought in; only then will the farm be more profitable and commercial poultry production possible.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.