The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State chapter, has urged local farmers in Nigeria to always ensure improved biosecurity measures in their farms.
The Lagos State PAN Chairman, Mr Godwin Egbebe, made the call in an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday in Lagos.
He said the group had insisted that its members adhered to strict biosecurity measures in their farms at all times, to prevent frequent disease outbreak among the flock.
“We have always sensitised local poultry farmers on the need to improve biosecurity measures on their farms, to prevent frequent disease outbreak.
“As an association, we have partnered with Animal Care, a veterinary laboratory, to help our farmers in biosecurity measures from the hatcheries.
“Biosecurity measures starts from the hatcheries. The farmers are advised to take new birds to the laboratory for tests, before mixing them with their flock.
“It is good to know the health status of any bird before mixing them with prior flock,” he said.
Egbebe also called on the poultry farmers to restrict access of people to their farms, to forestall disease spread among their flock.
He also reiterated the need for basic sanitation service in all poultry farms and proper disposal of litters.
“We also encourage our farmers to discourage constant traffic in their farms. People should not get random access to the farms to prevent disease outbreak.
“Poultry farms should also have sanitation facilities at the entrance of their farms such as water, soap and sanitisers, to avoid bacterial transmission to the birds.
“It is also important that bird litters are properly disposed of because indiscriminate disposal of the litters will increase disease proliferation across farms,” he said.
The PAN chairman noted that to promote biosecurity measures in farms across the state, Animal Care gave members 30 per cent discount for their laboratory services.