Investigating Probiotics as a New Poultry Hatchery Disinfectant That Keeps Good Bacteria

By Maddie Johnson

Researchers have shown that probiotics can protect hatching chicks from bacterial diseases without destroying beneficial microorganisms.

Bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Enterococcus and Staphylococcus can be devastating intruders in incubating and hatching eggs. As chicks develop, harmful microorganisms can enter eggshells through pores or tiny fractures, and their overgrowth can eventually cause eggs to burst, spreading the microorganisms throughout egg incubators, also known as hatch cabinets.

The industry standard for disinfecting hatch cabinets is to use formaldehyde, which kills all bacteria  good and bad  across the board.

Scientists with the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences sought a way to eliminate harmful microbes while preserving the beneficial ones.

Their study showed that some strains of probiotics reduced harmful bacteria similar to formaldehyde fumigation.

Danielle Graham, assistant professor of poultry science with Bumpers College and the Division of Agriculture’s Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, led the study published in Poultry Science, an official journal of the Poultry Science Association, this spring.