Egg Flats and Pallets Disinfection with Heat Treatment

Sanitation of egg flats and pallets may be done by heating them up above 130 oF and maintaining the high temperature for a period of time (e.g., 6-8 h). To assess the heating performance of a newly built heat treatment room at a commercial layer farm in wintertime (December) in Iowa, temperature of room air and inside the stacked pallets and flats were monitored during the heating process. Preliminary results show that directing heat more toward the floor improved the room heating effect greatly; the room air and pallet stacks temperature reached the target zone (130-140oF) 30 min and 4 h after starting the heater, respectively. The temperature of flat stacks did not reach the target temperature zone due to larger volume and heat resistance as compared to the pallet stacks. Findings of this study provide basis to improve the design of the heat treatment system for disinfecting the egg flats and pallets for commercial laying hen farms.