Ensure Farm Biosecurity with Key Cards

The introduction of a contagious disease to a farm represents a severe economic impact on a flock.

Contaminated clothing, equipment, and footwear remain one of the primary causes of bird exposure to disease-causing organisms. Managing traffic should be a top priority on your farm to prevent the introduction of disease.

This advanced biosecurity system operates much like key cards utilized in hotels. Electronic door latches are installed on entrance doors or traffic gates and connected to a Maximus card reader. Presenting an authorized card activates the door lock solenoid.

Maximus scanner and ID card used at a farm entrance gate.  

Each user is assigned a tag or card and completes their profile by adding an email or phone number. The type of access given to each card controls entry to production facilities; this can range from limited to full access. For example, you can grant permission for employees working a weekend shift access to the buildings only on Saturday and Sundays between 5 am to 2 pm.

Every site or building has a designated health status. The owner operator then establishes a health protocol for personnel to follow. An example of a health protocol or rule would be to deny access to a "clean" site for 48 hours after visiting a "dirty" site.   Trying to enter a "clean" site before 48 hours results in denied entrance. The system sends an email or SMS, explaining the reason, to anyone denied access.

Doors can be remotely unlocked to allow access to specific visitors, such as veterinarians and service techs that do not have a card.

Screen showing the access history to the farm site.

The system also provides a history of the activity for all sites. After selecting the time range to view, the operator will see the username, the tag number, location of the reader used, the date/time reading of a card, the status (if the user was allowed access) and the reason for the denied access.

The same card is also used to enable access to the Maximus house controller. For instance, a particular card may permit the user to view the screen but not make adjustments, while another level of permission might only allow a farm worker to enter the number of eggs collected or record the number of deads picked up.