Abstract
This work aimed to assess the effects of preslaughter lairage time on the welfare and mortality of broilers transported in different farm-abattoir distances. It was evaluated 215 poultry transport trucks from a commercial poultry slaughterhouse from 2006 to 2007. Data were obtained from the holding area acclimatized through fans and water misting in the mornings, afternoons and at night. The thermal variables (temperature and relative humidity), distance, lairage time and density of birds per cage were considered in the analysis. The effects of distance and lairage time were important in the variation of rectal temperature of the animals and on the number of dead animals per truck. Two models were developed (mean and dispersion), for each response variable in function of the interaction between lairage time and distance. As the lairage time in the holding area increased, the rectal temperature of the birds was reduced for all the studied distances. In farm-abattoir distances higher than 25 km, mortality was low when lairage time was lower than 1 hour. However, for distances below 25 km, in the same time interval, the number of dead birds was two-fold higher than in the first situation. The adjustment of lairage time has to be done accordingly to the distance provided that the lairage environment is correctly climatized.
Highlights
Due to the increasing technological advance in the poultry industry, the assessment of factors that have influence on loss reduction is important, even if it is punctual or generalized throughout the productive process
This work aimed to assess the effects of preslaughter lairage time on the welfare and mortality of broilers transported in different farm-abattoir distances
The most critical loss for the poultry industry is the number of losses caused by deaths during the preslaughter operations, which is the extreme indicator of poor welfare (Petracci et al, 2006)
Summary
Due to the increasing technological advance in the poultry industry, the assessment of factors that have influence on loss reduction is important, even if it is punctual or generalized throughout the productive process. The most critical loss for the poultry industry is the number of losses caused by deaths during the preslaughter operations, which is the extreme indicator of poor welfare (Petracci et al, 2006). The time which broilers stay inside the transport trucks is variable during the loading and transport. These conditions vary according to each country, local climate conditions and with the type of transportation used. Some journeys might last up to 3 hours and the birds are confined inside crates up to 12 hours, depending on the dynamic of whole process (Akşit et al, 2006)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
