It’s never been more important for poultry producers to run biosecure operations. Michael Barker hears what they need to do to stay ahead of the disease threat
If food security is national security, then biosecurity is job security.
For the nation’s poultry producers, keeping their units safe from disease is of paramount importance not just to the health of their birds, but to their business overall. Fortunately, as the years pass, expertise in how to optimise biosecurity grows, alongside the technology that can help give producers an advantage.
So what lessons have been learnt from the avian flu outbreaks of the past few years, and how can the industry move forward in the face of the ever-growing need for top-tier biosecurity?
One of the most highlighted pieces of advice from all the experts Poultry Business spoke to for this report is that biosecurity is not about one single action or behaviour, but encompasses a wide range of areas over a prolonged period of time. Sarah Osborne, corporate development director at Anpario, says for example that previous avian flu outbreaks have reinforced the importance of a holistic biosecurity programme. “While external biosecurity measures such as controlling movements onto farms and rigorous cleaning and disinfection remain critical, producers have increasingly recognised the value of strengthening internal biosecurity through effective feed hygiene, clean water systems and environmental management,” she observes. “Minimising pathogen challenges at every stage of production helps build flock resilience and supports bird health and performance.”
For Julian Sparrey, technical director at Livetec, one of the biggest lessons is that biosecurity cannot be treated as a short-term response to rising disease risk, but must instead be seen as a part of everyday farm management. “It’s also great to see the industry taking preparedness much more seriously now, with producers recognising the value of having contingency plans, staff training, visitor management and accurate records in place before an outbreak ever occurs,” he adds.
On the back of having supported more than 350 emergency disease response operations, Sparrey is keen to underline just how much of a difference that preparation makes, while his colleague Jack Hughes, biosecurity team manager at Livetec, adds that previous outbreaks reinforced how important consistency is to day-to-day biosecurity. That means not just having a protocol written down, but making sure every staff member follows it every day.
“We worked with one producer during an AI outbreak where the disease was contained to the first affected shed,” Hughes recalls. “The farm had three sheds in total, and two remained unaffected thanks to clear protocols, disciplined site management and quick decision-making. That showed very clearly that biosecurity isn’t just about keeping disease out. When disease does occur, it can also help contain it and reduce the impact on the business and staff.”
Combating ‘biosecurity fatigue’
Specialist avian vet Dr Tom Dutton of Elanco Animal Health says that having robust biosecurity ingrained in farm protocols ensures that good habits extend beyond just the high-risk periods, supporting long-term resilience against a spectrum of pathogens. “Maintaining rigorous standards depends on having an environment where every member of the team feels able to challenge poor biosecurity,” he stresses. “It is easy for a team to suffer biosecurity fatigue, which is a state of diminishing compliance. AI provides a reminder that it only takes one lapse of biosecurity for a potentially devastating disease to enter a poultry unit.”
Dutton points out that recent outbreaks have affected high-health breeder and grandparent flocks alike, showing that disease can break through at any stage of production.
But how do farms resist the creep of biosecurity fatigue and dwindling compliance? Dutton stresses the need for high-quality and engaging training, with frequent refreshers to maintain standards. With any farm visitor having the potential to bring disease onto a site, minimising visits to those that are essential during high-risk periods reduces the risk, he explains. “Elanco’s farm-services and technical team undergo regular training to ensure our on-farm presence does not compromise a farm’s biosecurity,” he adds. “Cars are disinfected between each visit, and we extend the poultry-clear period between farm visits during high-risk periods.”
Building biosecurity strength
There are a number of ways in which producers can beef up their biosecurity, and that includes both farm design and the use of technology.
As Dutton notes, UK poultry infrastructure is extremely varied, with some ageing farm buildings sitting alongside new developments. The regionally consolidated nature of the industry means the risk of infectious diseases tends to be concentrated around dense poultry populations, and as sites and buildings are renewed, biosecurity should be built into the design of upgraded facilities.
There’s also an issue related to water. “Severe weather events with concentrated periods of very high rainfall increase the risk of water ingress, runoff entering buildings and water pooling where poor drainage exists,” Dutton explains. “Directing water away from buildings and ensuring adequate drainage helps reduce these [disease] risks.”
Ben Crisp, clinical director, innovation and technical at St David’s Poultry Team, agrees that water leaking into the shed from the outside represents an important factor, given the avian flu virus can live a long time in water. He observes that most of the outbreaks investigated by the APHA have shown the introduction of the virus into the shed is normally done by the farm themselves with the movement of people or bedding.
Livetec’s Hughes says that while farm design has become a bigger part of the biosecurity conversation, for many producers the focus remains on improving existing sites rather than building from scratch. Practical improvements can include reviewing vehicle movements, separating clean and dirty areas more clearly, improving hygiene points or using simple measures such as step-over barriers to make transitions between biosecurity zones more effective.
Crisp notes that some sites have made adjustments such as having separate or isolated areas for washdown, for example. There’s also been a move, where physically possible, to remove the need for vehicles such as feed lorries to enter the biosecure shed zones.
“The requirements of industry schemes such as Red Tractor and Lion Code go beyond the government mandate,” he adds. “Likewise, a site’s Veterinary Health Plan includes biosecurity. Therefore, to comply, all sites should have a good standard of biosecurity in place.”
On the technology front, Crisp points out that some sites now have digital visitor sign in/sign out and monitoring in place to have a footprint of people and equipment movements, which should mean quicker tracing on site and from farm to farm. “As the technology develops and more automated options become available, it’s possible that more equipment will be shared between sheds and different sites. This will all need thorough cleaning and disinfection before and after each shed and site,” he stresses.
Dutton is upbeat about artificial intelligence’s role in predicting risk more accurately, whether that be by plotting migratory bird movements, tracking weather patterns or bringing flock-specific risks together for a complete picture. Tools are also able to monitor effectiveness of biosecurity, identify gaps and enable solutions before disease exploits limitations, he notes. The emergence of new sequencing technology is also offering the potential to detect airborne infectious material.
A preventative future?
“Looking ahead, I anticipate that biosecurity will become increasingly fine-tuned and optimised for each site, building or unit,” Dutton says. “Monitoring the effectiveness of biosecurity will become increasingly automated, with limitations more rapidly identified and corrections implemented.”
Osborne believes that biosecurity will increasingly move towards a preventative, whole-farm approach rather than only looking at the environment, and that holistic approaches will support bird resilience and gut health. “We expect to see greater emphasis on integrated strategies that combine feed hygiene, water quality and bird immunity to reduce pathogen pressure throughout production,” she stresses, adding that as disease threats continue to evolve, successful biosecurity programmes will focus not only on keeping pathogens out, but also on supporting birds through optimised nutrition, gut health and management practices.
Sparrey says that biosecurity will remain the foundation of disease prevention, even if vaccination becomes a bigger part of disease management in future. “Vaccination may have an important role to play, but it should not be seen as a replacement for strong biosecurity. The two need to work together,” he says.
In addition, Sparrey expects to see more collaboration across the industry, with producers, vets, government and technology providers all playing a part in improving resilience. “Looking ahead, the most resilient farms will be those that bring together good people, good processes and good technology to support biosecurity every day.”
Three innovative solutions giving poultry biosecurity an edge
1/ Weaving Machinery has created an advanced Infection Control Barrier (ICB) system, which empowers site managers to automate biosecurity measures while maintaining efficient vehicle access control.
As the company’s George Flack explains, lorries, contractors and shared machinery are all recognised routes by which disease can be transmitted between farms. The Weaving Infection Control Barrier provides a controlled treatment point at the site entrance and exit, automatically applying a correctly dosed disinfection solution across the side and underside of vehicles before they proceed further onto the site.
This creates a clear boundary between clean and dirty areas, and makes vehicle disinfection a consistent and automated part of everyday site access rather than relying on drivers or visitors to remember a manual procedure of spraying with a lance. “By reducing the likelihood of pathogens being brought onto or carried away from the site, the barrier can help protect livestock and poultry reduce the risk of costly disruption and strengthen overall resilience,” he adds.
Installing a permanent barrier also helps demonstrate that a farm is taking reasonable, practical steps to implement and enforce its biosecurity plan, Flack notes.
2/ Anpario has developed a series of practical solutions that support biosecurity across the production system, with the company’s approach centred on protecting feed, water and bird resilience.
pHorce helps improve feed hygiene through proven antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activity, while also supporting the development of a beneficial gut microbiota. Orego-Stim supports gut health and immune function, helping birds respond more effectively to disease challenges. And Credence provides effective water sanitation through its controlled-release chlorine technology, helping maintain clean drinking water and water systems as well as being suitable to use in a concentrated form as a disinfectant, approved by Defra. “Together, these solutions form a preventative strategy to reduce pathogen pressure and strengthen on-farm biosecurity,” Anpario says.
3/ Livetec’s Livestock Protect is a digital platform that help producers monitor disease alerts, protection zones, outbreak history, wild bird surveillance, visitor records and farm-specific risk assessments.
“Through the Livestock Protect mobile app, we’ve also made our eBAS biosecurity assessment free to use,” points out biosecurity team manager Jack Hughes. “It helps producers review their current biosecurity, identify where improvements may be needed and track progress over time. The value of technology isn’t just in collecting information. It’s in making that information easier to understand and act on.”
Cash support for biosecurity advice
On 2 June, Defra announced the latest development in the longstanding Animal Health and Welfare Pathway offer. The NFU notes that this latest offering focuses on poultry biosecurity reviews with a vet to tackle the ongoing challenge of bird flu.
During the visit, the vet will consider biosecurity risks on the site, outline where changes could reduce disease risk, provide tailored advice to what a keeper can act on as well as outline all of their comments in a written report, which can then be kept for future reference.
As a minimum, one of the following flock sizes must be met per CPH (County Parish Holding) in England to determine its eligibility: 1,000 laying hens; 1,000 meat chickens; 1,000 breeder chickens (including pullets); 500 ducks; 500 geese; 500 turkeys.
All funded visits must be completed by 31 December 2028, and claims must be submitted by 31 March 2029. Producers will receive £430 per review to help cover the cost of the visit, and each eligible site can have its own review.