Measuring Air-Borne Microbial Contamination of Broiler Hatching Cabinets

This study compared the measurements of bacterial air contamination in commercial broiler hatching cabinets gathered with a surface air sampling machine to those collected using an open agar plate method. Samples were analyzed for levels of Enterobacteriaceae. Presence or absence of salmonellae was determined using a direct and an enrichment sampling procedure. The air sampler found more Enterobacteriaceae (128 cells/180 L air, 2 min exposure) than the open plate system (41 cells/2 min exposure). However, the open plate enrichment system detected more salmonellae than the air sampler enrichment system (six vs. two positive cabinets).