Microbiological Impact of Delayed Movement of Pullets

SUMMARY The depopulation of healthy birds during a disease outbreak can impact recovery and further disrupt the food supply. In 2015, the United States faced one of the largest outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza ever confirmed. Many of the 7 million pullets depopulated were healthy but could not be moved to laying facilities because of their location in quarantine zones. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of an early production induced molt on Salmonella and Campylobacter prevalence, as well as total aerobes and Enterobacteriaceae enumeration. Pullets were reared in a cage-free barn from 0 to 16 wk. At 17 wk, pullets were assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: control (AV), floor (FL), enrichment (EN), and molt (MT). AV was moved into an aviary system to begin lay, while FL, EN, and MT were brought into lay in the barn. When production reached 10%, a non-feed withdrawal diet was given to MT for 6 wk. Post-molt, all remaining treatments were moved to the aviary and maintained until 32 wk. Fecal, organ, and egg shell samples were collected and analyzed at the onset of lay, pre-molt, post-molt, and at depopulation to determine prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter. Total aerobic and Enterobacteriaceae loads were enumerated for egg shells collected from the litter, nest box, and aviary system wire. There was no difference for Salmonella and Campylobacter prevalence among treatments for all samples. While no difference was found in total aerobe plate counts pre-molt, there was a difference (P