Restrictions placed on Joice & Hill’s Peterborough hatchery following a case of Group B salmonella have now been lifted, allowing the business to resume operations after extensive testing cleared the site.
The issue first emerged from chick supplies hatched on 26 March, when Salmonella typhimurium was confirmed in samples taken from hatcher tray liners. The finding led to disruption across UK chick supplies and triggered an Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) investigation, with the hatchery placed under official restriction while deep cleaning and tracing work took place.
At the time, managing director Nick Bailey said: “This really is an unprecedented situation… we are confident that we can eradicate this issue,” while stressing that repeated testing had failed to detect salmonella in supply flocks and that infection levels appeared “very low”.
Following weeks of investigation, APHA has now confirmed that restrictions were lifted at 6pm on 27 April after 300 official samples from the hatchery tested negative for salmonella. These results matched Joice & Hill’s own precautionary testing of 125 samples, which also returned clear results, while parent stock farms were similarly found to be free of infection.
A company statement said the findings “align with our own testing and confirm there is no presence of salmonella at the hatchery or in our supply chain”.
Hatching has now resumed, although the company warned supply may take time to normalise. “We will endeavour to meet planned orders in the coming weeks, but will prioritise back orders and replacement chicks,” the business said, adding that some customers may face short delays.
The earlier restriction period meant some scheduled deliveries could not be fulfilled, raising concerns in parts of the sector about knock-on impacts to pullet availability later in the year. However, with production now back underway, the company is working to restore supply as quickly as possible.
Bailey previously urged customers to maintain strict biosecurity, noting the incident had been contained through rapid tracing under the National Salmonella Control Programme. “We are confident that our hatchery team can address the issue and re-commence supply within a short timeframe,” he said.