Abstract
1. Staphylococcus aureus was able to colonise the surface of chicks as young as 1 d old.
2. The organism was detected in a hatchery particularly in the debris from the hatchers and on the working surfaces at the sexing and vaccination areas.
3. The degree of surface colonisation of chicks and pullets was low during rearing but rose to a maximum at mid‐lay (50 weeks) when the organism was readily detectable on almost all hens.
4. Strains of Staphylococcus aureus were characterised by phage‐typing and cultural characteristics and found to belong predominantly to poultry phage group B2 of Gibbs et al. (1978a).
5. Adetailed description of poultry phage group B2 strains is presented; strains of this type can be considered as a second “ live‐bird “ ecovar when compared with Staph. aureus var. gallinae of Witte et al. (1977).
Notes
Present address: The British Food Manufacturing Research Association, Randalls Road, Leather‐head, Surrey KT22 7RY, England.