ABSTRACT

1. Information about procedures and biosecurity practices used by small and medium egg producers (SMEPs) is scarce. Anecdotal evidence suggests that biosecurity in such enterprises may be poor, as personnel and equipment move freely between sites and this may be compounded by personnel working on commercial units who keep their own poultry.

2. To fill this knowledge gap, a questionnaire was designed and implemented targeting SMEPs in Scotland. Small enterprises were defined as egg producers that have ≥50 laying hens but <350 laying hens; while medium enterprises were defined as egg producers that have ≥350 laying hens but ≤32 000 laying hens. The questionnaire consisted of a total of 56 questions divided into multiple sections, covering the characteristics of the primary keeper, location of the enterprise and size of the flocks, husbandry, marketing of products and health/biosecurity.

3. The questionnaire was posted to 375 holdings at the beginning of March 2017 and the survey remained open until the end of May 2017. In total 90 questionnaires were received by the cut-off date of which 76 questionnaires were from SMEPs. Forty were small enterprises and 36 were medium enterprises. For three questionnaires, it was not possible to identify the enterprise type.

4. Differences were observed between SMEPs in terms of reported biosecurity and management practices, with medium enterprises reporting the adoption of more biosecurity measures than small enterprises. Furthermore, SMEPs behave differently from backyard poultry keepers and large commercial companies in terms of disease risk.

5. In conclusion, it is important to ensure that SMEPs are considered in contingency plans and disease control programmes and that engagement with them is promoted so that the uptake of relevant information, such as awareness of disease control programmes, is optimised.

摘要

1. 有关中小型鸡蛋生产商 (SMEP) 使用的程序和生物安全实践的信息很少。轶事证据表明，这些企业的生物安全可能很差，因为人员和设备在站点之间自由移动，而在商业单位工作的人员饲养自己的家禽可能会加剧这种情况。

2. 为填补这一知识空白，针对苏格兰的中小企业设计并实施了问卷调查。小型企业被定义为蛋鸡≥50 只但<350 只的鸡蛋生产者；中型企业是指蛋鸡≥350只，蛋鸡≤32000只的鸡蛋生产企业。问卷共56个问题，分为多个部分，涵盖主要饲养员的特征、企业所在地和鸡群规模、饲养、产品营销和健康/生物安全。

3、问卷于2017年3月上旬发布至375个馆藏，调查持续至2017年5月末，截至截止日期共收到问卷90份，其中76份来自中小企业。小型企业40家，中型企业36家。对于三份问卷，无法确定企业类型。

4. 在报告的生物安全和管理实践方面，SMEP 之间存在差异，中型企业报告采用的生物安全措施多于小型企业。此外，就疾病风险而言，SMEP 与后院家禽饲养者和大型商业公司的行为不同。

5. 总之，重要的是确保在应急计划和疾病控制计划中考虑 SMEP，并促进与他们的接触，以便优化对相关信息的吸收，例如疾病控制计划的意识。