Effective Hatching Egg Sanitization Craig D. Coufal, Ph.D.
Consequences A lack of hatching egg disinfection can lead to: Contaminated/exploding eggs Reduced hatch Cross contamination throughout the hatchery and grow-out houses Hatchling infection/disease/early mortality The potential to produce poultry that will ultimately produce meat and eggs that are contaminated with pathogens
The Challenge A method of hatching egg disinfection is needed that is: Effective against all microbes on eggs Proven to increase hatchability and chick quality Easily implemented in a commercial setting Safe and non-toxic to people and the environment Economical
Methods of Disinfection Hydrogen Peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) Can be applied to eggs by spraying Well known antimicrobial properties at low concentrations Brown bottle in pharmacy (3% solution) Applied to open wounds and used as an oral antiseptic Safe if handled properly Keep out of eyes and do not inhale spray Inexpensive
Methods of Disinfection Germicidal ultraviolet light (UVC); wavelength 254 nm Does not affect the egg cuticle Shown to effectively reduce many types of microorganisms Cannot penetrate the shell to affect the embryo No hazardous chemicals involved Safe as long as skin and eyes are shielded from direct exposure Lamps are inexpensive to buy and operate
New Method of Egg Disinfection Step 1: Spray H 2 O 2 Step 2: UV exposure
log 10 CFU/egg Eggshell APC for Hydrogen Peroxide-UV Treated Eggs 4.5 4 a ab (Wells et al., 2010 Poultry Science 89:2499-2505) 3.5 b 3 2.5 2 c c cd de 1.5 ef 1 f 0.5 0
Mode of Action - Photolysis UVC light Bacterial cell inactivation Energy H O O H Hydrogen peroxide Hydroxyl radicals
Optimization of H 2 O 2 -UV Treatment 3% H 2 O 2 spray UVC 5 seconds UVC 5 seconds 3% H 2 O 2 spray
HP-UV Egg Sanitizer
Lab Hatch Trial 1 Evaluate the effect of HP-UV treatment on hatch and chick quality. Repeated over 5 days: 150 Untreated (control) 300 Fertile Eggs 150 HP-UV Treated Stored until 6 th day and all placed in incubators at same time (3 incubators per treatment)
Lab Hatch Trial 1 Early dead Mid dead Late dead Pip Chicks/ Hatch of Fertile Control 34 0 18 26 566 HP-UV Sanitized Control (%) HP-UV Sanitized (%) 16 1 17 12 595 5.3 0 2.8 4.0 87.6 2.5 0.2 2.7 1.9 92.8
Lab Hatch Trial 1 - Chick Quality Ave. Chick wt. (g) Unhealed navals/ naval tags Bad legs/weak chick Dirty/wet feathers Cull chicks Dead chicks Sum of poor quality chicks Control 38.04 104 14 3 2 0 123 HP-UV Sanitized Control (%) HP-UV Sanitized (%) 37.74 82 9 6 0 0 97-18.4 2.5 0.5 0.35 0 21.7-13.8 1.5 1.0 0 0 16.3
Lab Hatch Trial 2 720 eggs collected from a commercial broiler breeder farm Transported to lab Half treated with HP-UV egg sanitizer Half untreated (control) Eggs stored for 18 days prior to incubation
Lab Hatch Trial 2 Early dead Mid dead Late dead Pip Chicks/ Hatch of Fertile Control 47 9 41 25 183 HP-UV Sanitized 44 5 25 18 190 Control (%) 12.4 2.9 10.8 6.6 60.0 HP-UV Sanitized (%) 11.6 1.3 6.6 4.7 67.4
Lab Hatch Trial 2 - Chick Quality Ave. Chick wt. (g) Unhealed navals/ naval tags Bad legs/weak chick Dirty/wet feathers Cull chicks Dead chicks Sum of poor quality chicks Control 45.9 32 12 7 4 1 56 HP-UV Sanitized Control (%) HP-UV Sanitized (%) 46.4 28 14 6 0 0 48-17.5 6.6 3.8 2.2 0.6 30.6-14.7 7.4 3.2 0 0 25.3
Lab Hatch Trial 3 1,600 broiler eggs from a prime age flock acquired from a hatchery Half untreated control Half HP-UV sanitized 4 replicate incubators per treatment
Lab Hatch Trial 3 Early dead Mid dead Late dead Pip Chicks/ Hatch of Fertile Control 31 2 31 24 658 HP-UV Sanitized 23 2 25 18 658 Control (%) 3.9 0.3 3.9 3.1 83.6 HP-UV Sanitized (%) 3.0 0.3 3.3 2.4 85.8
Lab Hatch Trial 3 - Chick Quality Unhealed navals/ naval tags Cull chicks Dead chicks Sum of poor quality chicks Control 69 15 7 91 HP-UV Sanitized 47 8 2 57 Control (%) 8.8 1.9 0.9 12.2 HP-UV Sanitized (%) 6.1 1.0 0.3 8.0
Does HP-UV sanitization impact the egg cuticle? Electron microscopy evaluation One eggshell broke into 3 pieces: 1. Control (no treatment) 2. Washed with sponge and water (to intentionally show cuticle removal) 3. Treated with HP-UV egg sanitizer
Control Washed
Control HP-UV Sanitized
Control Higher magnification Washed (cuticle removed)
Control Higher magnification HP-UV Sanitized
Field Data The following data was reported by poultry company personnel where the HP-UV egg sanitizers are used in the field
Sample Eggs Aerobic Plate Counts Untreated Controls
Sample Eggs Aerobic Plate Counts HP-UV Treated
Sample Eggs Yeast and Mold Petrifilms Untreated Controls
Sample Eggs Yeast and Mold Petrifilms HP-UV Treated
Eggshell Surface Microbial Counts Treatment Control (no treatment) Average Total APC/egg 721,500 Glutaraldehyde spray 84,950 HP-UV Sanitized 20 (several zero count eggs) Experiment repeated 3 times with similar results each trial.
Microbial Counts and Egg Age (Eggshell crush and rub test) Treatment Control (no treatment) Average Total APC/egg 3,596 HP-UV sanitized on day 1 252 Eggs stored for 10 days, then HP-UV sanitized HP-UV sanitized on day 1 and day 10 48 All eggs collected on the same day from the same flock. 7
Rotten Egg Counts Egg Sanitization % Rots at Transfer Cl - + Quat 1.56 Glutaraldehyde spray 0.65 HP-UV Sanitized 0.47 Data from every egg transferred at hatchery for one month.
% rotten eggs 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Rotten Eggs and Flock Age Normally, as a flock ages, % rots increases Normal HP-UV Sanitized Linear (Normal) Linear (HP-UV Sanitized) 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 Flock Age
Hatchery Results Treatment % Rots at Transfer % Rots at Breakout % Hatch HP-UV Sanitized 1.43 6.21 64.08 Glutaraldehyde spray 3.35 8.40 60.52 Difference -1.92-2.19 +3.56 Same flock hatched over a 4 week period. Daily egg production split between the 2 treatments.
Chick Mortality Farm Source 7-day Mortality HP-UV Sanitized 0.71% Glutaraldehyde spray 2.09% Difference -1.38%
Industry Application Egg sanitization equipment available Standard units for use on breeder farms with manual loading of egg flats Customized equipment for in-line egg packing or hatchery applications can be designed to fit the need Contact: craig@innovativepoultry.com www.innovativepoultry.com