Microbiological Control of Incubation
Authors: Gofman A. A. , Lysko S. B. , Zadorozhnaya M. V. , Suntsova O. A. 
Published: January 2024

Introduction. The microbiological monitoring occupies a special place in ensuring the epizootic well-being of the poultry farms, allowing predicting the spread of infectious diseases in birds. By studying the microbiological profile during the incubation period and determining the sensitivity of the isolated microorganisms, the “working” antibacterial drug can be selected by the time of chicken hatching. This will enable timely prevention of the infectious diseases. If the research is started with the first biological control (at the 7.5th day of incubation), then in case of high microbial contamination during the incubation process, the additional measures can be taken to prevent the infectious diseases: adjustment of the treatment scheme of the hatching eggs or chickens at the hatching, selection of the drug depending on the results obtained. Therefore, the aim of this study has been to determine the species and quantitative composition of the pathogenic and opportunistic pathogenic microflora during the incubation of the meat crosses chickens’ eggs in the poultry farm settings of the Omsk region.Materials and Methods. The 240 air samples and 40 samples of the upper respiratory tract mucous membrane scrapings of the bred broiler chickens and 60 samples of the dead embryos were examined. The air contamination of the incubation cabinets was established by the sedimentation method on the 7.5th; 11.5th; 18.5th day, and the air in the hatching cabinets on the 21.5th day of incubation.Results. When examining the air samples in the incubation cabinets, the predominance of the staphylococci and enterococci was found, in the hatching cabinets — bacteria of the E. coli group (Esch. coli.) and enterococci. When analysing the upper respiratory tract scrapings of the broiler chickens and the material from the dead embryos, the microorganisms of the Enterococcaceae and Staphylococcaceae families turned out to be the dominant species, to a lesser extent Enterobacteriaceae. A large number of the following microorganisms were detected in the scrapings: E. faecalis (38.5%), S. aureus (31.6%), E. agglomerans (11.4%), E. coli (8.8%), C. freundii (7%), P. aeruginosa (0,9%), E. faecium (0,9%). When examining the dead embryos, E. faecalis (44.7%), S. aureus (25.5%), and E. coli (12.8%) were isolated most often. Among the associations, S. aureus / E. Faecalis and S. aureus / E. faecalis / E. coli occupied a leading place both in the study of scrapings and in the study of dead embryos.Discussion and Conclusion. The conducted research, which enabled determining the species and quantitative composition of the pathogenic and opportunistic pathogenic microflora during the incubation of the meat crosses chickens’ eggs, has revealed that the microbiocenosis of the upper respiratory tract is directly related to the air microflora. By regular monitoring the air environment in the incubator, it is possible to control the recontamination of chickens at the hatching by examining just the air samples. This is a more affordable, less costly and traumatic for the bird method. Understanding the real epizootic situation allows determining the most efficient measures to reduce the microbial contamination during the incubation period, as well as select the optimal antibacterial drug, in case of finding the bacterial infection in the poultry stock.