The Guyana Code of practice for the operation of  poultry hatcheries was recently approved as a national standard by the National Standards Council, the governing board of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS).

This standard was developed this year after the draft was finalized by the sub-committee on livestock of the Technical Committee for Agriculture, a GNBS release stated.
The code was developed in response to the many complaints from farmers about the poor quality of chicks being sold on the domestic market.
According to the release, the Standard prescribes guidelines for poultry hatchery owners and managers with a core of modern bio-security sanitation and food safety management practices to be employed in a hatchery operation.

Some of the critical areas covered are bio-security which involves areas such as location, design of hatchery showers and cleanliness of both personnel and vehicles for egg delivery and control of disease such as salmonella.

Meanwhile, GNBS is requesting stakeholders to contact its  Technical Standards Information Unit at Flat 15, Sophia Exhibition Complex to obtain copies of this standard which will serve to streamline and enhance the operations of hatcheries in Guyana.