Biosecurity Basics: How We Keep 14,000 Birds Healthy

With 14,000 birds across our brooding, growing and laying houses, biosecurity is not a poster on the wall — it is a daily routine that everyone on the team follows without exception.

Controlled entry, every time

Every poultry house has a footbath at the entrance and a strict no-visitors-inside-the-cages policy. Staff change into dedicated boots before entering, and anyone coming from another farm waits 48 hours before setting foot in ours.

Clean water, clean feed, clean sheds

Drinkers are scrubbed daily, feed is stored off the ground in sealed bins, and each house is fully cleared, washed and rested between flocks. Sick birds are isolated immediately, not "watched for a few days."

What smallholders can copy today

• Keep visitors and other animals away from your birds
• Wash your hands and boots before and after handling poultry
• Never mix new birds into an existing flock without a quarantine period
• Remove sick birds from the flock the moment you notice symptoms

None of this requires expensive equipment — just discipline. It is the single biggest reason we have been able to scale from a small flock toward 100,000 birds without a major disease outbreak.