Assessment of cleanness of environmental surfaces in cattle barns and piggeries

Abstract

Hygienic issues are important in environmental surfaces of animal houses because of food quality and animal welfare. The aim of this study was to review methods in cleanability research of cattle barns and piggeries. Surface materials, animal welfare and hygiene are also discussed. Concerning different detection methods of cleanness, visual methods have dominated in field studies, but some successful attempts to use optical methods are also presented. A wider selection of different kinds of instrumental, microbiological and visual methods and their combinations have been used in laboratory studies. Radiochemical methods have been demonstrated to be suitable as quantitative laboratory methods. In the case of material studies, laboratory experiments are important prior to field experiments in order to screen potential materials, whereas the field studies provide practical information about the behaviour of the surface materials. The importance of cleanness of environmental surfaces in cattle barns and piggeries is also discussed in the context of material development.