Effects of Hydrogen Peroxide/UV Advanced Oxidation Process Sanitization on Duck and Turkey Egg Microbial Loads and Hatchability

Commercial duck and turkey hatching eggs typically have high microbial loads due to their highly soiled nature. As a result, the commercial turkey and duck breeder industries typically wash hatching eggs prior to incubation. Previous studies with chicken eggs have determined that egg sanitization with the combination of hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light in an advanced oxidation process (Hv2Ov2/UV AOP) decreases eggshell surface microbial loads and may result in improved hatchability. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP method of egg sanitization on turkey and duck eggshell microbial loads, hatchability, and overall hatchling quality. Additionally, the effectiveness of the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP method was evaluated in a commercial setting alone or in combination with the standard washing process for duck eggshell microbial load reductions. Microbiological evaluations determined that turkey and duck eggs treated with the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP method resulted in reduction of surface and subsurface eggshell aerobic plate counts (APC) compared to untreated eggs. In a commercial setting, the combination of the washing process followed by the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP method resulted in lower eggshell APC compared to the washing process alone and the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP method alone. Treatment of duck eggs with the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP method resulted in an improvement in hatchability by 13% compared to untreated eggs and 9% compared to the washing process. Additionally, duckling quality results indicated an increase in percentage of ducklings without quality defects for the washed and the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP treated compared to untreated control. However, treatment of turkey eggs with the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP method had no impact on hatchability or poult quality. Results obtained in this study suggest that utilization of the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP method of egg sanitization could have important economic implications to the duck breeder industry. Additional research is warranted to evaluate the effects of using the Hv2Ov2/UV AOP method in a commercial setting for microbial load reductions, hatchability and hatchling quality for turkey and duck eggs