Queensland Guidelines: Meat Chicken Farms - Department of ...

Where possible spreading of spent litter
should be undertaken when the wind is
blowing away from sensitive land uses.
5.2.7 Farm biosecurity
Biosecurity is the protection of the economy, the environment, human health and social amenity
from the negative impacts of pests, diseases and contaminants (Queensland Biosecurity Strategy,
BQ).
Biosecurity is about managing risk to meet biosecurity objectives. It is essential that a risk
assessment be conducted for each farming enterprise to establish what level of risk exists in each
phase of its operations and introduce measures appropriate to these levels.
Biosecurity and quarantine are integral parts of any successful poultry production system.
Biosecurity refers to those measures taken to prevent or control the introduction and spread of
infectious agents to a flock. Such infectious agents, whether they cause clinical or subclinical
disease, significantly reduce the productivity, profitability and long-term financial viability of a
poultry operation (National Farm Biosecurity Manual – Poultry Production 2009).
The National Farm Biosecurity Manual for Chicken Growers, published by the Australian Chicken
Meat Federation (2010) establishes standards for all aspects of meat chicken production. It was
developed from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry National Farm Biosecurity
Manual – Poultry Production (2009) and identifies areas of risk common to most meat chicken
farms, and appropriate measures to minimise these risks.
Disease outbreaks can significantly affect meat chicken farms and the meat chicken industry
through substantial loss of income and can create significant environmental problems through the
need for disposal of large numbers of birds. The risk of disease transmission within the industry
can be reduced through appropriate farm location and management.
It is important to recognise that poultry are routinely subject to a number of respiratory viral
diseases that only infect birds. These viruses are not capable of infecting humans and are not a
public health concern. These agents are indeed highly infectious for poultry and it is the airborne
spread of these agents from chicken to chicken that dictates the farm biosecurity guidelines for
distances between poultry operations.
Performance criteria
P1
The operation of the meat chicken farm must
implement and maintain biosecurity
measures that:
prevent the introduction of infectious
disease agents to a meat chicken farm
prevent the spread of disease agents
from an infected area to an uninfected
area
minimise the incidence and spread of
microorganisms of public health
significance.
Acceptable outcomes
A1
Biosecurity policies are designed and
implemented to ensure:
meat chicken farms are separated from
one another to minimise the risk of
disease transfer between farms. The
following separation distances should be
maintained:
- 1000 metres between new and
existing meat chicken farm
complexes and any alternative form
of intensive poultry farming
(chickens, turkeys, guineafowl,
ducks, geese, quails, pigeons,
pheasants, partridges, ostriches and
Queensland Guidelines Meat Chicken Farms 33