The hygienic treatment of turkey eggs by dipping in an antibiotic and disinfectant solution

At the hatchery, in order to reduce bacterial infections in one-day-old chicks, turkey eggs are routinely dipped by the direct pressure difference method into a solution consisting of: (formula; see text) This dipping process was studied in more detail and the experiments allowed of drawing the following conclusions: 1. After 8 hours of use on three consecutive days the tylosin concentration had hardly decreased, the concentration of ampicillin dropped to approximately 65% and the concentration of quaternary ammonium compounds to 33%. 2. Bacteria were isolated from the fluid only at the time of final sampling (Bacillus subtilis). All other bacteriological investigations of the dipping solution showed negative results. 3. The treatment did not appear to influence hatchability. 4. The mortality in the first week of life of poults from treated eggs was significantly lower than of poults from untreated eggs.