Sophie Pentecost
Director, Applied Bacterial Control
We all know the impact hot weather has on our birds and how keeping them cool and reducing stress can help. Critical to this is your water hygiene strategy and making sure it’s working.
As air temperatures rise, so does the temperature of your birds’ drinking water.
In general, higher temperatures can stimulate microbial growth, which results in changes in the microbial community which can then result in certain species having a competitive advantage.
For example: Some pathogenic bacteria and coliforms have been shown to proliferate at higher temperatures. Temperature is one of the key drivers of bacterial activity in water, and as the water warms towards an optimum temperature the rates at which bacteria grow increases. Mesophilic bacteria in particular have been shown to have optimal growth in water temperatures between 30 to 39 degrees. This bacterium includes E.coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus Aureus, and Pseudomonas.
Many farms have water storage tanks holding large volumes of water. These will be warming up nicely in the sunshine. This means there is an increased risk of higher levels of bacteria loading in the water coming out of the tank and into the birds.
Therefore, make sure that your method for sanitising water is working well to reduce the bacterial load in the water before it reaches the bird.
Before temperatures go up, your level of sanitiser may be sufficient to control the levels of bacteria in the incoming supply. In the warmer weather and as bacteria numbers rise, it might not.
Monitor your residual levels of sanitisers to make sure they’re still effective. Bacterial tests on the drinking water should also be carried out regularly to monitor the water’s hygiene status.
New silver stabilised hydrogen peroxide product: ABC Hyoxil
Applied Bacterial Control (ABC) has recently launched this product which offers a great solution to helping control bacteria levels in water. It comes in 24kgs and for any new orders between now and 31st August, there is a special introductory price of £150 per 24kgs. This product will sit alongside Aqua-clean as our additional water hygiene offering and has been developed as a like-for-like to Huwa San. Therefore if you are a current user of this product, this is a good alternative at a more cost-effective price.
Orders are placed directly with ABC, please call Sophie Pentecost: 07921 709787 or sophie@appliedbacterialcontrol.com
As with all ABC and St David’s hygiene products, they come with the support of our expert technical team, who can help in the application of the product and ensuring the set-up is correct to get the best out of our products.