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Some days, Jay Bozman, air quality compliance inspector on the Shore, feels like the cleanest man in town, as some of his inspections require special precautions. Bio-security is taken very seriously on the Delmarva Peninsula, where two million birds a week are processed for consumption just in Salisbury alone.
Perdue Farms, Inc.,a large poultry company has six primary breeder farms in Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester Counties. These farms produce eggs that go to broiler production farm hatcheries and end up as the poultry sold in groceries.
These breeder farms also have extremely high bio-security systems designed to protect the breeder chickens from outside diseases. The facility’s closely-monitored safeguards are in place to protect these flocks from rodents and migratory birds that pose a biohazard threat. Any chicken that is infected or dies is disposed of at the facility’s poultry cremator. The cremators require an air quality operating permit and a periodic inspection to ensure they work cleanly. Jay Bozman is the MDE employee who inspects the cremators at the Perdue facilities.
Suited for Inspection
“Each time anyone enters the fenced facility, they must take special precautions to prevent bringing disease into the facility,” says Bozman. “When I go to perform an inspection, I first have to go into one locker room, take off my street clothes, enter a shower using special antibiotic soap and shampoo, go into another locker room and dress in clothing and boots provided by Perdue.”
“When I finish my inspection, I deposit the clothes and boots in a special laundry shoot, shower with the antibiotic soap again, and then walk through a disinfecting footbath before putting my own clothes on again.”
According to Bozman, these primary breeder chickens are very valuable to Perdue because they represent 80 years of research and poultry genetics. Last year, a strain of flu infected chickens on three family owned farms. The farm residents could not leave the property in efforts to prevent spread of the disease to other farms. Even the children who lived on those farms were not were not allowed to attend school for fear of spreading the disease to other farms. Humans do not carry this flu strain, but can spread the disease by carrying traces of chicken manure on shoes or clothing.
“The poultry industry here is huge,” explains Bozman. "By following these protocols we are safeguading the reputation, health and economic viability of Delmarva's chicken farms and that region as a whole.”
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