Background
When Avian Influenza (AI) swept through Belize in late 2014, the country’s poultry sector had no playbook, no prior exposure, and no margin for error. Farms were losing entire barns, supply chains were in chaos, and the industry was under enormous pressure to contain further spread.
At the time, our operation managed both layer and broiler flocks less than half a mile from one of the first barns confirmed positive for H5N2. Within weeks, multiple farms within a three-mile radius were depopulated. Remaining producers braced for their turn.
Our farm had one question:
What can we do—practically and immediately—to strengthen our biosecurity in a way that gives us any legitimate advantage?
Disclaimers & Limits of the Evidence
This is not a scientific trial.
We cannot claim that water treatment alone prevented an outbreak.
What we can say is that the measures we took were consistent, measurable, supported by known sanitation principles, and correlated with a better outcome than the farms around us.
Challenge
- A nearby broiler breeder farm tested positive for a low-pathogenic H5N2 strain.
- The virus carried mutation risk. Any positive barn would be depopulated.
- The industry had little real-time guidance.
- We faced open-air barns—typical for Belize—meaning wind, rodents, and wild birds all increased exposure pathways.
- Routine testing began every three weeks, with blood samples taken from 30 birds each time.
This was a high-pressure scenario where passively “hoping for the best” made no sense.
The Strategic Approach
We immediately contacted Zak Motala at Puroxi Pure Water Global Inc. in British Columbia. We had already used Oxy Blast (a hydrogen-peroxide based treatment) for two years, but this situation required an elevated sanitation protocol.
Zak provided a specific AI-focused water and sanitation protocol, built around:
- Oxy Blast Protocol with pH control
- Targeted pH adjustments using feed-grade acids
- Upgraded footbath and surface sanitation
- Continuous injection with controlled PPM levels
Because Oxy Blast breaks down into oxygen and water, we were able to increase PPM substantially without the safety concerns associated with harsher chemicals.
Immediate Changes Implemented
- Full barnyard was barricaded — no foot traffic except essential personnel.
- All footbaths were upgraded to Oxy Blast mixtures and maintained daily.
- The AI high-protocol water treatment began the same night it was received.
- Rodent pressure was monitored aggressively due to neighbouring depopulations.
Testing & Monitoring
From January through July 2015, the poultry association tested our birds every three weeks.
In that time:
- Multiple farms within 3 miles were depopulated.
- A layer barn only 250 meters away was depopulated.
- Our barn never returned a single positive AI test.
This is correlation, not causation — but the contrast was impossible to ignore.
Secondary Trial: Raising New Pullets During the Outbreak
In February 2015, hatcheries notified us that new chicks would be arriving. It was the least convenient timing imaginable—the outbreak was still active—but delaying wasn’t an option.
My cousin Denver had agreed to raise the pullets. His neighbour had already lost birds to AI. That put us on high alert.
We installed a complete Puroxi-style water treatment system in his pullet barn:
- Injection pumps
- Sand filtration
- Oxy Blast protocol
- Barn sanitation products
What Happened
After three months, Denver delivered a flock that exceeded every historical benchmark he’d ever seen:
- Lowest mortality he had ever had.
- Consistent target weights achieved.
- Birds stayed noticeably more uniform and stable.
Denver ended up purchasing all of the equipment outright because he refused to remove the system from his barn.
Unexpected Finding: Worm-Free Flock
In Belize, pullets raised on floor systems almost always arrive at the production barn needing immediate deworming. It’s treated as an inevitability.
Water treatment in North America had been reported to disrupt worms and some parasites, so we wanted verification.
We asked the feed mill veterinarian to open several birds.
The results shocked him:
Not a single worm was found.
This flock went on to become one of the most stable, productive flocks in the entire history of our farm.
Outcome After 7 Months
- Zero AI detections despite repeated testing.
- Zero depopulations on our site.
- Best-performing pullet flock to date.
- Improved mortality, weight uniformity, and barn stability.
Again, no claim of causation — but the operational difference was undeniable.
We don’t pretend that water treatment is a magic shield. But when an outbreak hit and every other variable was chaos, the one thing fully within our control was water quality and sanitation discipline.
The combination of:
- consistent high-PPM hydrogen-peroxide treatment,
- tight pH control,
- upgraded surface sanitation,
- controlled biosecurity, and
- proactive management
gave our birds an environment with the least microbial load we could realistically achieve.
When everyone around us was losing barns, this strategy helped us stay operational, productive, and resilient.
For any Alberta producers staring down AI concerns today, this case study isn’t a sales pitch — it’s a practical example of stacking controllable variables in your favour.
