Air Purifiers

EFFECT OF NEGATIVE AIR IONIZATION ON AMBIENT PARTICULATES IN A HATCHING CABINET

Author(s):

MITCHELL BAILEY W

Interpretive Summary:

Starter chicks for broiler houses are produced in hatcheries throughout the United States which often produce several hundred thousand chicks each week in hatching cabinets. These cabinets are one of the primary sources for salmonella contamination of poultry. Extensive dust is generated during the hatching process from egg shell and feather particles which become airborne. Previous research has demonstrated that a single salmonella contaminated egg could contaminate all eggs and newly hatched chicks in a hatching cabinet. Two types of electrostatic air charging devices were tested for their ability to remove dust from air in a poultry hatching cabinet and to determine their potential for reducing airborne transmission of salmonellae. The devices were tested in a hatching cabinet with ambient dust which had a good cross section of particle sizes to determine their basic effectiveness prior to testing in an operational hatching cabinet with fertile eggs. Dust removal efficiencies ranged from an average of 92.2% for the larger device, a 6-Bar Ionizer, to 81.1% for the smaller device, a 3-Bar Ionizer. The effectiveness of the ionizers for removing dust suggests that this type of system has good potential for reducing airborne transmission of disease in hatching cabinets. Reducing most of the dust in hatching cabinets and containing it within a collection device would also reduce the effort required to clean exhaust air from the numerous cabinets in a hatchery and to clean other areas of the hatchery - all of which are potential sources of contamination.

Keywords:

salmonella enteritidis mucosal immunology immunoglobulin a secretory antibody vaccination newcastle disease free avian influenza poultry disease environment environmental control virus poultry temperature humidity dust reduction air quality ionization electrostatic airborne transmission

Contact:

SE POULTRY RESEARCH
934 COLLEGE STATION ROAD
ATHENS
GA 30604
FAX:
Email: baileym@bae.uga.edu

Approved Date: 1997-08-31

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TEKTRAN
United States Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service


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