Abstract
Some injuries to broilers occur during rearing, but most injuries occur during handling before slaughter. Records provided by a processing plant for loads transported over a 19 mo period during 2009 and 2010 were examined. The median percentage of wing injuries per load was 5.7%, whereas injuries to the legs, breast, or shoulders were all less than 1% per load. Risk factors for wing injuries were examined by considering the data from each load by handling event (i.e., loads originating from the same producer on the same date). A multilevel model with three levels, producer (n = 86), handling event (n = 1694), and load (n = 4219), was fitted. The final model included weight, sex, season, catching team, time of day at which loading began, speed of loading, and an interaction between speed of loading and time of day. Factors that reduced the risk of wing injuries were loading lighter birds, loads containing only cockerels, and loading in the fall. The predicted percentage of wing injuries was relatively constant for slower loading speeds, but it was increased significantly when faster loading speeds were adopted during daytime (0700–1700). Identification of these risk factors can be used to adjust loading practices.
Highlights
The transport of broilers to slaughter is a multi-stage process and many factors can affect the risk of injury (Cockram and Dulal 2018)
This study aimed to describe the types of injuries recorded at a processing plant, their prevalence, and to identify risk factors for these injuries
Handling and transport procedures Injuries and potential risk factors for injuries were studied using records made by a processing plant in Canada between January 2009 and July 2010
Summary
The transport of broilers to slaughter is a multi-stage process and many factors can affect the risk of injury (Cockram and Dulal 2018). In Canada, broilers are caught and handled manually and if this is undertaken carefully, injuries need not occur and most birds are not injured (Kettlewell and Turner 1985). Manual catching and handling of broilers have the potential to cause trauma that can result in injuries (Jespersen 1982; Griffiths and Nairn 1984). These injuries are likely to cause pain and discomfort to the birds (Gentle 1992) and represent an economic loss due to condemnations, Received 28 November 2019.
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