By Dr. Maral Rahmani
PoultryMed Veterinary Services
May 2025
Introduction
Keeping poultry healthy starts long before disease appears. A strong biosecurity plan protects not only your birds but also your business, your customers, and the entire poultry sector.
At its core, biosecurity is about minimizing risks. Every day, poultry farms face threats from viruses, bacteria, and pests. Diseases can enter silently through the air, contaminated feed, dirty equipment, or even the people who visit the farm. That’s why every farm needs a clear, practical approach to protect its birds.
The reasons for strong biosecurity are simple
Healthy birds grow better, perform better, and are safer for the food chain. Farmers also have a legal responsibility to meet animal welfare and food safety standards. Beyond that, a major outbreak can cripple a business financially.
The first step is understanding how diseases move. Some pathogens spread through the air, others through water, feed, or direct contact between birds. Indirect spread—via boots, hands, equipment, vehicles, or rodents is often harder to see but just as dangerous.
Structural biosecurity: design matters
Your farm’s design plays a major role in disease prevention. A good layout makes biosecurity easy to maintain. A secure perimeter fence, a controlled entry point with clear signs, and a system to disinfect vehicles all reduce outside threats.
Materials matter too. Buildings should be easy to clean and disinfect. Poultry houses need to be sealed tight to keep rodents, wild birds, and insects out. Surrounding buildings with clean gravel or concrete strips and keeping grass trimmed short removes hiding places for pests. Good drainage is another simple but powerful defense, making your farm less attractive to migrating birds.
Feed silos should be placed where trucks can refill them without driving inside the farm zone. Less traffic inside the farm means fewer chances for pathogens to sneak in.
Operational biosecurity: protecting birds every day
Once your farm is well-designed, daily routines need to keep the barriers strong. Staff and visitors should follow strict entry rules, changing into farm-specific clothing and footwear in a dedicated clean/dirty zone. Handwashing must be regular and thorough.
Water and feed must always be safe. Water systems should be treated, and silos must stay closed and clean. Any spilled feed should be cleaned up quickly to avoid attracting rodents or wild birds.
Rodent control deserves special attention. Bait stations, careful monitoring, and keeping surroundings clean all help keep vermin numbers low. Detailed records of pest control activities are valuable in case of any outbreak investigation later.
Equipment should stay within the same house whenever possible. If anything must move between areas, it needs to be fully cleaned and disinfected first.
Dead birds must be handled carefully too. Storing mortalities in freezers or secure, wildlife-proof containers until proper disposal is essential to stop disease from spreading.
People are the biggest risk
Human movement is the top biosecurity risk on most farms. Staff, vets, delivery drivers, and service crews can all unknowingly carry pathogens. That’s why visits must be strictly limited and visitor logs maintained. Anyone entering should follow strict hygiene protocols, including showers if needed and always start their visits with the youngest flocks first.
Farm employees should avoid contact with other poultry outside work, and handwashing should happen before every shift, after breaks, and after using the toilet. Poorly managed footbaths can become contamination sources rather than barriers, so they must be cleaned daily and refreshed with disinfectant.
If a visitor poses too much risk, it’s better to postpone the visit than take a chance.
Emergency Response Planning
Even the best biosecurity measures can’t guarantee 100% protection, so every farm should have a clear plan in place in case of a suspected disease outbreak.
Staff should know who to contact immediately starting with the farm veterinarian and local animal health authorities. Affected areas should be isolated as quickly as possible to limit spread, and detailed records of recent visitors, deliveries, and movements should be reviewed. Having a response plan in place ensures fast action and reduces damage if an emergency occurs.
Adapting Biosecurity for the Seasons
Biosecurity isn’t static, it needs to adjust with the seasons. Migration periods for wild birds, the rainy season, and hot summer months all bring new challenges. Farms should tighten pest control during wetter months, focus on water quality and ventilation during heatwaves, and reinforce perimeter checks when wild bird activity increases. Regular seasonal reviews help close gaps before problems develop.
Building a Strong Biosecurity Culture
Effective biosecurity depends as much on people as it does on procedures. A farm’s success in preventing disease often comes down to its culture. Regular training sessions, even short refreshers, can keep biosecurity practices fresh in employees’ minds. Staff should feel responsible for protecting bird health and should be encouraged to report any concerns or breaches without fear of blame. When everyone believes in biosecurity, it becomes a daily habit, not just a checklist.
Technology Tools for Smarter Biosecurity
New technologies can also strengthen farm biosecurity. Automated gates, water quality monitoring systems, and pest activity trackers can help detect risks earlier and limit human error. Video surveillance at farm entrances or key points can support monitoring compliance and reviewing movements if a problem arises. Investing in smart tools can make biosecurity management more efficient and reliable over time.
In Short
Strong biosecurity is built on good design, strict routines, and smart people management. Every farm needs to treat it not as a one-time project but as part of the farm’s daily culture. Investing time and effort in biosecurity protects not just the flock today but the entire future of the farm.
