Tell us about your integration: how many farms does it have, what is its capacity or number of animals fattened and what is the role of the veterinarian in these integrated farms?
Our integration has approximately 7,000,000 places, with 5 – 6 cycles per year. This results in a weekly volume of about 700,000 chicks placed across a total of 150 farms. The role of the veterinarian is fundamental, focusing on animal welfare, biosecurity, and health management. Modern poultry farming is built on the prevention and oversight of the entire rearing process, which helps us avoid incidents that could lead to pathologies within our farms.
The BIN group in which you participated presented a Good Practice to reduce the impact of Enterococcus in broilers. Do you believe that applying this practice has had a significant impact on decreasing Enterococcus on your integration’s farms?
Implementing these practices does not only benefit Enterococcus control; it also results in greater flock uniformity and superior digestive health. This leads to an overall better health status, which in turn generates a higher economic return for our farms.
How have these practices been implemented across your farms?
We have worked across several different lines of action. We strictly monitor cleaning and disinfection processes in breeder farms, hatcheries, broiler farms, and all transport stages to reduce potential chick contamination.
In the hatchery, during chicks transport, and upon their arrival at the farm, we work to maintain homogeneous environmental conditions (humidity, temperature, CO2, etc.).
Once the chicks are on the farm, we maintain optimal environmental conditions with minimal fluctuations. We stimulate the earliest possible consumption of feed and water to trigger rapid and correct digestive development, thereby boosting immune capacity and fostering a healthy intestinal microbiota.
Finally, the feed is formulated according to the needs of each growth stage, both in terms of composition and physical presentation. We pay special attention to water quality—both bacteriological and chemical—monitored through periodic laboratory analysis.
Do you believe there is still room for improvement in this area?
We must always look for improvements. We work in a sector affected by external factors that can impact production, such as raw materials in nutrition (which may contain mycotoxins), adverse weather conditions, emerging pathologies, and even “forgotten” diseases that are now reappearing. Because of this, we must constantly refine our control and monitoring systems; any one of these external factors could render our current Enterococcus control measures insufficient.
Can you offer any advice to producers in other countries who want to work on reducing Enterococcus on their farms?
The control of Enterococcus must be applied vertically, across all phases of production. This principle applies not only to this specific pathogen but to most processes that threaten the health and welfare of our birds.