TAS 6909-201X 
 1
THAI AGRICULTURE STANDARD 
GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACT ICES FOR LAYER FARM 
 
1. SCOPE 
1.1 This Thai agricultural standard provides requirements on go od agricultural practices for 
the management of commercial layer farm of at least 1,000 birds , covering farm components, 
managements of farm, animal feed, water, personnel, animal heal th, animal welfare, pullets 
and laying hens, eggs, and environment including record keeping . This standard aims to 
support the production of good qualit y eggs which are safe for consumption. 
1.2 This standard does not cover layer farms that are certified by the Department of Livestock 
Development (DLD) under other sta ndards such as Thai Agricultur al Standard on Organic 
Agriculture Part 2: Organic Live stock (TAS 9000 PART 2) and sta ndards on free range layer 
farming. 
2. DEFINITIONS 
For the purpose of this standard: 
2.1 Layer means chicken of the scientific name, Gallus gallus,  that lays eggs, on a regular 
basis, for consumption. The term “layer” covers both pullets an d laying hens.  
2.2 Pullet means chicken at a cert ain age before starting to la y eggs. 
2.3 Laying hen means chicken of an appropriate age to lay eggs until a period of time that it 
is spent, depending on its breed. 
2.4 Layer farm means an establishm ent for commercial layer farm  of at least 1,000 birds.  
2.5 Layer house means a building with either  controlled or unco ntrolled environment used for 
layer raising. 
3. REQUIREMENTS   
Requirements for good agricultural practices for layer farm are  as in Table 1: 
Table 1 Requirements  
Item Requirement 
1. Farm components  
1.1 Site  1.1.1 Farm shall be located in an environment that poses 
no risk of contamination from physical, chemical and biological hazards. If not, sufficient preventive measures shall be in place. 
1.2 Farm layout 1.2.1 Farm shall ha ve an appropriate size for l ayer raising. 
Layer houses shall not be too dense so as not to cause problem to the environment. 
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Item Requirement 
 1.2.2 Farm shall be well laid  out for good hygienic 
practices and animal sanitation. The operation areas shall be appropriately separated.  
 1.2.3 An area shall be provi ded for egg gathering or 
storage before moving eggs out of the farm. 
1.3 Layer house  1.3.1 Layer house shall be designed to display  locations 
of equipment to facilit ate layer raising. 
 1.3.2 Raising area shall be adequate taking into account 
the principles of animal welfare.  
 1.3.3 Housing structure shall be strong, hygienic and well 
ventilated, easy to, clean, ma intain and disinfect. Layer 
house shall be suitably arranged to facilitate egg laying and gathering. 
2. Farm management  
2.1 Farm manual 2.1.1 Farm management manual shall be made avai lable, 
containing details on main operations i.e. raising system, managements of feed, water, animal health and poultry welfare.
2.2 Feed and water  2.2.1 Complete and concentrated feeds shall  meet their 
quality and standard in compliance with the Animal Feed Quality Control Act. 
2.2.2 In case of on farm feed preparation or mixing of feed from Section 2.2.1, prohibited substances in accordance with Animal Feed Quality Control Act shall not be used. 
 2.2.3 Feed shall be preliminarily checked for physical 
quality. Samples shall be kept for analysis, in case a problem arises. 
 2.2.4 Separated feed storage ar ea shall be provided. Feed 
shall be stored in a condition that is able to prevent 
deterioration and contamination. 
 2.2.5 Sufficient feed and water for each layer shall be 
managed.  
 2.2.6 Water for layer raising shall be clean. Result of 
water quality analysis shall be made available.  
2.3 Management of layer house and equipment  2.3.1 Layer house, equipment and surrounding area shall 
be clean and maintained in good and hygienic condition. 
 2.3.2 Layer house and equipment shall be cleaned and 
disinfected after removing the previous flock of layer. The house shall be kept vacant for a certain period of time sufficient to break the cycle of infectious agents and to 
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Item Requirement 
prevent their accumulation, except otherwise specified by 
the Department of Livestock D evelopment for each area.  
 2.3.3 Egg gathering containers such as egg trays shall be 
suitable and hygienic. 
 2.3.4 Egg gathering containers shall be cleaned and 
disinfected every time before bringing in layer house and before each collecting.  
3. Personnel  3.1 Duty and responsibility for each personnel sh all be 
clearly assigned.  
3.2 Number of workers, animal husbandry supervisors or 
personnel trained on animal husbandry on layer raising and veterinarian holding a cer tificate of poultry farm shall 
be suitable for the number of layers. 
3.3 Workers responsible for layer raising shall have knowledge by being trained or h aving on-the-job training 
in order to be able to manage the farm.  
 3.4 Personnel shall have good personal hygiene in order 
to prevent contaminatio n and spread of disease. 
4. Animal health  
4.1 Disease prevention and 
control 4.1.1 Evidence or document spe cifying sources of layers 
shall be available. 
4.1.2 Measures for prevention,  control and elimination of 
disease introduced to farm by humans, vehicles, equipment 
and disease carrier animals shall be available. 
 4.1.3 Disease surve illance and preventi on plan shall be 
established by the f arm veterinarian. 
 4.1.4 Health of layer shall be  monitored daily and carcass 
disposal shall be properly managed. 
 4.1.5 In case of a disease outbreak or suspicion of an 
outbreak, actions shall be taken in compliance with the Animal Epidemic Act .
 
4.2 Disease therapy  4.2.1 Disease therapy shall be supervised b y  a  f a r m  
veterinarian in accordance with the Veterinary Profession Act and related laws and regulations. 
5. Animal welfare  5.1 Layers shall be raised in accordance wit h the animal 
welfare principles. 
6. Management of pullets, laying hens and eggs   
6.1 Pullets and laying hens 6.1.1 Health, size and weight shall  be randomly checked. 
 6.1.2 Pullets or laying hens that are abnormal in physical 
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Item Requirement 
condition, unhealthy, different  in size and weight, or not 
suitable for laying eggs shall be culled out.  
6.2 Eggs 6.2.1 Eggs shall be collected. Abnormal, cracked, or 
broken eggs shall be sorted out. Eggs stained with feces shall be separated for cleaning.  
 6.2.2 Eggs shall be stored under shade with good 
ventilation or under a temperature controlled  condition. 
 6.2.3 Clean, well-ventilated or temperature controlled vehicle  
shall be used for egg transportation. 
7. Environment 7.1 Garbage, waste water, and other wastes shall  b e  
appropriately disposed of so as not to be the sources of unpleasant odour and pathogens.  
 7.2 Litter scattering after removing layers from the farm 
shall be prevented.  
8. Recording 8.1 Data on main operations affecting animal healt h, 
disease control and egg pr oduction shall be recorded. 
 8.2 Records shall be kept  for at least 3 years.