New Thermal Foggers at MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc.

What are Thermal Foggers?

They are a jet engines with liquid injectors that use flame and heat to turn a disinfectant into vapor form (fog). The mist allows the disinfectant to cover all the nooks and crevices of a barn. It even permeates the bedding material to ensure that pathogens are eliminated and are not present to harm our young birds when we bring them into the barns. We fog our barns after we set them up for new bird arrivals. The thermal fogger is the safest way to eliminate the most harmful pathogens present in a barn.

The Dramm Fogger

We have used a Dramm brand fogger for many years. We only had one fogger because the cost of the Dramm is $4500. We like this fogger for a couple of reasons. It is effective, and it’s made in Wisconsin. In fact, we are still using this fogger, but we no longer have to carry it from one farm site to another and risk the wear and tear and possible damage from transporting it around the countryside.

Six New Foggers

We have six new thermal foggers in use throughout our farm properties  because  we were able to bring six of these units on-site for about $1200, with shipping included! The onset of the Corona Virus brought more foggers into the United States market at a significantly lower cost. This allowed us to purchase a model for each of our farms sites and eliminate transporting our Dramm Fogger between all our sites.

What is the Fogging Process?

Personal protective equipment must be worn while handling and using chemicals and the fogger. After the barns are set up for new birds, the crew will mix the diluted disinfectant solution into the fogger jug. The fogger is started and taken into the barn for a few minutes. The larger barns require more minutes than the smaller ones. Crew members can see the fog move throughout the whole barn and tell when it is time to shut the fogger down. Water is then run through the unit to clean it.

The Value

The new units have given us the ability to be more efficient because each crew has its own unit. We have the peace of mind that all areas are getting properly fogged on time, and we are eliminating the pathogens that could make our birds sick.