A spotless empty food-production hygiene area at the end of a shift, stainless surfaces receding into shadow.

Biosecurity by Environment

Each environment has its own pest and pathogen pressure, surfaces, animals present and rules. This section organizes our biosecurity knowledge by where the problem lives, linking each setting to the pests, protocols and products that apply.

Poultry production

Broiler houses, layer houses and aviaries, backyard coops and hatcheries share a core set of threats: poultry red mite, northern fowl mite, darkling beetles, flies, Salmonella, avian influenza and water line biofilm. The pages differ on cycle length, whether birds are present during treatment, and which regulations apply. Start with the environment page for your system, then follow links to the pest library and the terminal cleandown and water line protocols.

Livestock, equine and companion animals

Dairy and cattle barns, swine units, equine stables and kennels, catteries and shelters face flies, ticks, ringworm, parvovirus and rodents, and each houses species with specific sensitivities. Cats in particular are highly sensitive to essential oils, which shapes what can be used in shelters and homes. These pages set out pressure by season and the entry, footbath and equipment protocols that support them. Each page names the animals present and the limits that follow.

Apiaries, homes, stores and water

Apiaries face Varroa and Asian hornet with strict limits on what may be used near bees. Residential yards deal with ticks, ants, mosquitoes and slugs. Feed and grain stores face stored-product insects and mites under food and feed rules. Livestock drinking water systems connect every environment and are covered as a setting in their own right. Each page links the setting to the relevant protocols so that teams can move from problem to procedure in one step.

Key facts

  • USDA APHIS Defend the Flock resources set out core poultry biosecurity principles for commercial and backyard flocks (USDA APHIS, Defend the Flock)
  • Farm-level biosecurity is a core component of animal disease prevention in the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code (WOAH Terrestrial Code, Chapter 6.5, Biosecurity procedures in poultry production)
  • Use of any pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling is unlawful in the United States (FIFRA Section 12(a)(2)(G))

How our delivery technology applies

Environment determines the delivery constraint. A layer house needs residual in cracks while birds are present; a hatchery needs a disinfectant ready at a known concentration; a yard needs rainfastness; a kennel needs to exclude essential oils from cats. Multi-layer encapsulation lets one active be tuned for each case by changing shell composition and release profile, which is why we map products and pipeline items to environments.

Tell us your environment and target, and we will map the relevant products and protocols.

Broiler House Biosecurity

Broiler houses run all-in, all-out cycles of roughly five to eight weeks, and most pest and pathogen control is decided in the few days of downtime between flocks.

Hatchery Biosecurity

A hatchery concentrates eggs from many flocks and distributes chicks to many farms, so contamination at this point multiplies downstream.

Kennels, Catteries and Shelters

Shelters combine high animal turnover, unknown histories and shared air and floors, so hygiene has to assume every new arrival is shedding something.

Apiaries: Biosecurity for Honey Bee Colonies

Apiary biosecurity turns on three problems: Varroa mites inside the colony, predators such as the Asian hornet at the entrance, and spore-forming brood diseases carried on used equipment.

Related reading

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