The disinfection of cells for rabbits in rabbitry helps to avoid the emergence and spread of bacteria and viruses that cause the death of animals on rabbit farms.
How to disinfect rabbit cells
About the need for disinfection
Most viral microorganisms are stable in activity and are able to survive under various conditions, whether at elevated or low temperatures. Often, some infectious microorganisms are not exposed to chemical compounds and cannot be treated with specialized disinfectants. All this serves as a favorable soil for the development and spread of diseases of various etiologies, in the fight against which exclusively disinfecting measures help, and of a certain orientation.
Microorganisms that are harmful to the animal’s body can transmit infectious diseases through household equipment, technical tools and the cells that contain rabbits. Experienced rabbit breeders, in order to avoid animal diseases, carry out disinfection at home of rabbit holding places at least 1 time every six months.
Obligatory disinfection is required for rabbit cages, premises of rabbitry, where they are kept, and household equipment in cases when:
- young animals are transplanted into common cells for adult animals,
- planned rabbit rabbits,
- quarantined after a period of rabbit disease.
At the initial stage, the disinfection procedure includes a number of preparatory and cleaning measures:
- rabbit cells are thoroughly cleaned of accumulated droppings,
- all the dirt accumulated in the room where the rabbits are kept is swept out
- rabbit litter is cleared from garbage.
For these preparatory measures, before carrying out the basic disinfection procedures, brushes and brooms, small shovels and scrapers, buckets and other containers are suitable.
For disinfection measures, chemicals and tanks for their spraying will be needed.
Chemical treatment
Disinfection of cells in rabbits is often carried out using specialized chemicals, among which the most popular is a 10% solution of bleach. You can cook it yourself at home, but you can buy a ready-made disinfectant, sold in veterinary pharmacies.
A solution of bleach is applied with a wide paint brush to the surface of all the details of the cell and the wall of the room. Instead of bleach, ash liquor sold in specialized pharmacies, ordinary iodine or manganese can be used.
At the end of disinfecting measures, the room where the animals live is properly ventilated, and rabbit cages are washed several times with running water.
A number of rabbit breeders prefer 40% formaldehyde solution in aerosol form as a means for disinfecting cells in rabbits. With the help of formaldehyde, excellent disinfectant results are achieved with indoor humidity of at least 60%, warming the solution itself to a temperature of at least 15 ° C.
In case of excessively dry air, clean water is sprayed in the room treated with formaldehyde, creating additional moisture.
A formaldehyde solution is sprayed onto the surface of the cells and walls of the rabbitry premises where rabbits are kept using a spray gun. This is done in such a way that 10 ml of formaldehyde is per cubic meter.
Cell firing
Firing cells with open flame is one of the most common methods for disinfecting rabbit cells in experienced rabbit breeders who can be disinfected at home. Exposure to elevated temperatures is detrimental to the viability of microorganisms. All bacteria, viral infections and parasitic larvae die under the flood of fire.
Most often, disinfection of rabbit cells with fire is carried out when they consist of wooden structures.
Glass and ceramics are not recommended to be disinfected with fiery firing.
With this type of disinfection, a blowtorch or gas burner is used. Before proceeding directly to the process of firing by fire, the details of the cell are thoroughly cleaned and wiped. The duration of disinfection is no more than a few minutes and ends when the tree acquires a slightly brownish tint.
When processing cells by firing, we must not forget about fire safety measures, removing all flammable objects from the zone of visibility.
Post-Quarantine Processing
Disinfection of rabbit cells and premises after quarantine, when cases of the disease of individuals were noted, is carried out without fail. Another reason for this treatment is the mass death of rabbits. The means used for this are selected for each infectious disease.
Against Salmonella
After recorded cases of salmonellosis, it is necessary to disinfect the rabbit house using one of the following means:
- hot sodium with a concentration of 2.5%;
- formaldehyde solution with a concentration of 2%;
- slaked lime with a concentration of 20%;
- chloramine with a concentration of 3%.
Chemicals are calculated per liter per cubic meter of continuous surface. Disinfection treatment is carried out with an interval of 5 days until the infection is completely eradicated.
Against staphylococci
For treatment against staphylococcal infection, the following agents are used to choose from:
- formaldehyde with a concentration of 4%;
- chloramine with a concentration of 2%;
- dump with a concentration of 8%.
For every cubic meter of cell area you will need 20 ml of concentrated product. For aerosol treatment with a formaldehyde solution, a concentration of 25% is taken. Treated surfaces are aged for at least 3 hours, and then washed with water.
Against pasteurellosis
In the fight against pasteurellosis, one of the following agents is usually used:
- slaked lime with a concentration of 20%;
- formaldehyde solution with a concentration of 0.5%;
- chlorine solution with a concentration of 2%;
- hot xylonaphthol with a concentration of 2%.
Against Listeriosis
Against listeriosis infection, as a treatment, you can choose hot soda ash with a concentration of 16% or formaldehyde solution with a concentration of 20%.
These chemicals are used every 10 days until the signs of an infectious disease are completely eradicated. Everyone chooses the right solution for himself, based on personal preferences and capabilities.
In the case of negative samples for the presence of bacteria after an infectious disease, the removal of quarantine restrictions from the rabbit farm is finalized, the rabbit houses and household equipment and tools are treated with the same drugs as during the initial processing. All rooms and surfaces are washed with hot water, to which concentrated soda ash in 1.5-2% or iodine with a concentration of 5% is added. Rabbits are launched after the cells have completely dried.
