Poult. Sci.
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Poult Sci 2006. 85:1660-1664
© 2006 Poultry Science Association
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Petracci, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lavazza, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Petracci, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lavazza, A.

PROCESSING, PRODUCTS, AND FOOD SAFETY

Preslaughter Mortality in Broiler Chickens, Turkeys, and Spent Hens Under Commercial Slaughtering

M. Petracci*, M. Bianchi*, C. Cavani*,1, P. Gaspari{dagger} and A. Lavazza{ddagger}

* Department of Food Science, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, 47023 Cesena, Italy; {dagger} Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale, 47023 Cesena, Italy; and {ddagger} Department of Virology, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna, 25124 Brescia, Italy

1 Corresponding author: ccavani{at}disa.unibo.it


   ABSTRACT
TOP
 ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
The incidence of dead on arrival (DOA) birds was surveyed over 33 broiler, 11 turkey, and 19 spent hen abattoirs representing the majority (around 70%) of the Italian poultry slaughter plants. Data were recorded monthly during a 4-yr period (August 2001 to July 2005), considering a total of 1,266 million chicken broilers, 118 million turkeys, and 54 million spent hens, which represent 67.7, 84.0, and 28.4% of the national production, respectively. The overall average incidence of DOA was found to be 0.35, 0.38, and 1.22% in broilers, turkeys, and spent hens, respectively. The season significantly (P ≤ 0.01) influenced the mortality of all considered poultry categories, with higher incidence being observed during the summer (0.47, 0.52, and 1.62% for broilers, turkeys, and spent layers, respectively). The incidence of DOA broilers was found to be lower in small slaughter plants compared with medium and large slaughter plants (0.28 vs. 0.38 and 0.35%, P ≤ 0.01). The data obtained in this study might be used for establishing limit values of DOA as a welfare indicator during the preslaughter time of birds, including catching, loading, transportation, and lairage.

Key Words: preslaughter transportation • dead on arrival • broiler • turkey • spent hen


   INTRODUCTION
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
The preslaughter transportation of poultry constitutes the largest commercial translocation of a single class of livestock in Italy. In 2004, the number of slaughtered broiler chickens was approximately 450 million, whereas the corresponding figures for turkeys and spent hens were 35 and 46 million, respectively (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2005). All these birds, before slaughter, are caught, loaded into cages or coops, transported to an abattoir that may be located either close or far from the farm, and laired in a holding area. Many problems may occur at these stages that potentially increase the rate of mortality.

Broilers and turkeys that are dead on arrival (DOA) at the plant represent a complete loss of economic value and range up to 0.5% (Bingham, 1986; Bayliss and Hinton, 1990; Gregory and Austin, 1992; Warriss et al., 1992; Ekstrand, 1998; Nijdam et al., 2004). The mortality for spent hens is generally higher and more variable. Occasionally, very high mortalities have been reported (Warriss et al., 1999). In addition to the economic loss due to DOA, the welfare of poultry during preslaughter time is receiving more and more attention in Europe, resulting in pressure to improve conditions to safeguard animal welfare. Mortality rate is also considered as a parameter to evaluate animal welfare during transport (European Food Safety Authority, 2004). The recent Council Regulation 2005/1/EC (European Union, 2005a) has established that suitable food and water shall be available in adequate quantities in the case of a journey lasting more than 12 h. The European Union proposal of Council Directive 2005/99/CNS (European Union, 2005b) lays down minimum rules for the protection of chickens kept for meat production and includes the mortality during transport (<0.5%) as a parameter to allow stocking density during rearing periods exceeding 30 kg of live weight per square meter.

The birds may be exposed to a variety of potential stressors during transit, including the thermal demands of transport microenvironments, acceleration, vibration, motion, impacts, fasting, withdrawal of water, social disruption, and noise (Mitchell and Kettlewell, 1998). These factors cause adverse effects on the birds that may range from mild discomfort to death (Knowles and Broom, 1990; Nicol and Scott, 1990; Weeks and Nicol, 2000). More careful bird handling to reduce trauma has been reported as a crucial factor to reduce mortality and carcass defects, such as hemorrhages, bruises, and broken bones (Warriss et al., 1992; Barbut, 2002; Nijdam et al., 2004). Spent hens are transported to processing plants when they are at the end of the laying period. There are several particular concerns about this; they are mostly attributable to injuries formed during cage removal and crating, because osteoporosis in laying hens leads to loss of structural bone and increased incidence of fracture at various skeletal sites by the end of the laying period (Whitehead and Fleming, 2000). The spent hens also have a low monetary value; thus, there is little economic incentive to encourage careful handling and good welfare. For example, in the United Kingdom each year, about 36 million laying hens are slaughtered, and by the time they are killed, about 30% have suffered 1 or more broken bones (Gregory and Wilkins, 1989).

A further crucial factor is that close environmental control in the crates or modules on the vehicle is difficult, mainly because on most vehicles, ventilation is passive and is impeded by the close stacking of adjacent crates. The high probability of thermal stress being suffered by at least some birds in transit has been well documented (Bayliss and Hinton, 1990; Mitchell and Kettlewell, 1998; Warriss et al., 1999). Particularly, when hot weather is expected, it is important to reduce stocking density to control the buildup of heat and humidity. This was illustrated by Warriss et al. (1992). In this study, mortality was reduced from 0.22 to 0.16% from March to August in 1 UK plant, despite the increasing ambient temperature, by reducing stocking density progressively from, on average, 17.3 to 15.8 birds per transport crate. In European Mediterranean countries such as Italy, the average air temperature and RH are higher than 25°C and 70%, respectively, during the summer months (June, July, August); these environmental conditions during antemortem time of birds can induce heat stress and, subsequently, increase the DOA rate of birds. It has been previously evidenced that environmental conditions and duration of lairage at the slaughter plant affect preslaughter mortality rates significantly (Bayliss and Hinton, 1990; Nijdam et al., 2004).

Moreover, mortality is higher in consignments of broilers transported for a longer amount of time (Warriss et al., 1992). Warriss et al. (1992) found that for journeys lasting less than 4 h, the prevalence of dead birds was 0.156%, whereas for longer journeys (up to 9 h), it was 0.283%, an increase of about 80%. In a similar study, Petracci et al. (2005) found that a shorter journey time (<3.5 h) exhibited a lower mortality rate (0.24%) of birds in respect with longer time (>5 h; 0.45%).

Even if several factors have been reported to affect the preslaughter mortality, it can be important to evaluate the average value of DOA under commercial conditions and taking into account the majority of national poultry production. These data could also be used to establish limit values of DOA to evaluate the welfare of poultry during antimortem time as foreseen in the ongoing European Union legislation. The aim of the present study was to determine the incidence of broiler chickens, turkeys, and spent hens that are DOA at the abattoir in the majority of Italian slaughtering plants.


   MATERIALS AND METHODS
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
The incidence of DOA birds was surveyed over 33 broiler, 11 turkey, and 19 spent hen abattoirs representing the majority of Italian poultry slaughtering plants. Data were recorded monthly during a 4-yr period (August 2001 to July 2005), considering a total of 1,266 million chicken broilers, 118 million turkeys, and 54 million of spent hens, which represented 67.7, 84.0, and 28.4% of the national production, respectively, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2005). In all abattoirs, the monthly incidence of DOA birds was collected with the help of official veterinarian services; this measurement is actually mandatory in Italy. The monthly rate of DOA was calculated as a percentage, with the total number of dead birds per month counted at the moment of hanging from shackles on the slaughter line as the numerator and the total number of transported broilers per month as the denominator.

Data on DOA prevalence were processed by computing overall descriptive statistics (mean, SEM, minimum and maximum). Additionally, 1-way ANOVA was performed to test the effect of season (summer, June to August; autumn, September to November; winter, December to February; spring, March to May) on DOA birds in each considered poultry category (broilers, turkeys, and spent hens; SAS Institute, 1988). Furthermore, in broilers only, the effect of abattoir size was tested by classifying the broiler abattoirs as follows: small (<1 million slaughtered birds/yr), medium (1 to 10 million slaughtered birds/yr), and large (≥10 million slaughtered birds/yr). Data processing was conducted by considering the means multiplied by the respective number of birds slaughtered by each abattoir.


   RESULTS
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Overall mean, SEM, and variation interval of the incidence of DOA birds in broilers, turkeys, and spent hens are presented in Table 1Go.


View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		Table 1. Incidence of dead on arrival (%) broilers, turkeys, and spent hens
 
Broilers exhibited an average monthly DOA percentage of 0.35%, with ranges from 0.04 to 2.00%. In turkeys, the DOA incidence showed a similar mean value of 0.38%, and the overall range varied from 0.04 to 1.23%. As expected, a higher DOA mean value was found in spent hens (1.22%), with a very wide variation interval from 0.00 to 6.60%.

The season of slaughtering significantly (P ≤ 0.01) influenced the preslaughter mortality rate in broilers, turkeys, and spent hens, as shown in Table 2Go. The average monthly DOA percentage in broilers, turkeys, and spent hens is shown in Figure 1Go. The differences among the years seemed to be less important (Figure 2Go).


View this table:
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		Table 2. Effect of season on dead on arrival incidence in broilers, turkeys, and spent hens
 

Figure 1
View larger version (15K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		Figure 1. Average monthly dead on arrival (DOA) percentage in broilers, turkeys, and spent hens (mean ± SEM)

 

Figure 2
View larger version (11K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		Figure 2. Average yearly dead on arrival (DOA) percentage in broilers, turkeys, and spent hens (mean ± SEM)

 
Concerning the broilers, a significantly (P ≤ 0.01) higher DOA percentage was observed in the summer (0.47%), whereas the lowest was found in autumn (0.28%). Winter and spring presented intermediate mortality rates (0.35 and 0.32%) during preslaughter time. Also, DOA prevalence was significantly (P ≤ 0.01) higher in turkeys in the summer (0.52%) than in autumn, winter, and spring, which did not differ from one another (0.29, 0.29, and 0.32%, respectively). In addition, the same trend (P ≤ 0.01) was observed in spent hens (1.62 vs. 1.16% and 1.06 and 1.13%, in summer, autumn, winter, and spring, respectively). Also, in spent hens the higher DOA percentage (P ≤ 0.01) was observed in summer (1.62%) compared with other seasons (1.16, 1.06, and 1.13% in autumn, winter, and spring, respectively).

In Italy, the turkey abattoirs process almost the same number of birds per year, whereas broiler plants process a variable number of birds per year; it was interesting to study the effect of abattoir size on the mortality rate. It was observed that DOA prevalence was significantly (P ≤ 0.01) lower in small abattoirs (<1 million birds/yr; 0.28%) than in medium (1 to 10 million birds/yr; 0.38%) and large abattoirs (≥10 million birds/yr; 0.35%; Figure 3Go).


Figure 3
View larger version (18K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		Figure 3. Effect of abattoir size on dead on arrival (DOA) incidence (mean ± SEM) in broilers. Means with different letters differ significantly (P ≤ 0.05).

 

   DISCUSSION
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
The data on preslaughter mortality found in our study are similar to those reported by Warriss et al. (1999), who indicated that DOA prevalence in the United Kingdom ranged from 0.2 to 0.5%, depending on environmental conditions and journey time. More recently, Nijdam et al. (2004), considering 1,907 Dutch and German broiler flocks slaughtered in 2000 and 2001 at a Dutch processing plant, found a 0.46 average DOA percentage. Weeks and Nicol (2000) also suggested a conservative figure of 0.3% for overall average mortality of broilers. It was also confirmed that preslaughter mortality in spent hens is very critical. This is mostly attributable to injuries formed during cage removal and crating, because osteoporosis in laying hens leads to loss of structural bone and increased incidence of fracture at various skeletal sites by the end of the laying period (Whitehead and Fleming, 2000). Gregory et al. (1994) found that 10.2% of birds had old and healed breakages (principally, the furculum, ulna, and humerus), and 16.5% of breakages occurred during depopulation and transport (most frequently the pubis and the keel). At this stage, Gregory and Wilkins (1989) observed that 31.4% of birds had broken bones, rising to 45.3% after removal from transport crates and hanging on shackles before stunning.

In the present study, the season significantly affected the DOA incidence in all considered poultry categories. Moreover, if the preslaughter mortality differences among autumn, winter, and spring were statistically significant only in broilers, preslaughter mortality in the summer was found to be dramatically higher in broilers (+43%), turkeys (+59%), and spent hens (+42%) than the respective averaged mortality observed in autumn, winter, and spring. These results could be explained by the high environmental temperatures and RH normally observed in Italy during the summer months compared to the other seasons of the year. For instance, in the weather station in Vicenza (Metereological Service of Military Italian Aeronautics), which is close to the main area of poultry processing in Italy, the average air minimum–maximum temperature and RH observed during the summertime (from June to August) is 16.3 to 27.7°C and 72.7%, respectively.

These results confirm that heat stress due to high environmental temperature and RH can be a major factor in the death of birds during preslaughter time, whereas low ambient temperatures appear to be less important, even if broilers seem to be more prone to have higher mortality during winter compared with turkeys. Some postmortem inspections conducted by veterinarian personnel in one of the larger abattoirs revealed that a main cause of death in birds that are DOA at the plant is acute and congestive heart failure (P. Gaspari, personal communication). This suggests that DOA is caused more by antemortem stress than preexistent pathologies, and it is consistent with a previous study (Barontini et al., 1999), which found that the causes of preslaughter mortality are acute (14%) and congestive (37%) heart failure, followed by trauma (32%). This agrees with Bremner and Johnston (1996), who indicated that heart failure explained 47% of the deaths. Both environmental temperature and humidity are important factors affecting metabolic exhaustion and dehydration, which can cause heart failure (Elrom, 2001). An important method of losing heat in poultry at high temperatures is by evaporative cooling from the respiratory tract. The birds pant to facilitate this. In high humidity, evaporative mechanisms become less effective, or ineffective (Mitchell and Kettlewell, 1998; Barbut, 2002). High temperatures and humidity during preslaughter time (in the broiler house during catching and loading, on the vehicle during transport, and in the lairage area at the abattoir) may be a part of the explanation for greater mortality during the summer (Nijdam et al., 2004).

In regard to the effect of abattoir size, the lower broiler preslaughter mortality rates found in small abattoirs can be attributed to the fact that intermediate and large abattoirs usually process flocks with larger amount of birds. Larger flocks mean an increased catching time that can affect the catching team’s ability to exercise care during catching, as discussed by Nijdam et al. (2004), who found that the percentage of DOA birds significantly increased with increasing flock size. The importance of reducing trauma in controlling mortality is demonstrated by the findings of Gregory and Austin (1992). Handling of broilers is usually by the legs, and operatives may carry up to 5 birds, each held by 1 leg, in each hand. The potential for trauma is, therefore, considerable. In particular, it may lead to dislocations of the femur at the hip joint (Gregory and Austin, 1992). Also, in turkeys, it has been evidenced that during loading, birds may suffer death, bruising, broken bones, torn skin, and other physiological stress (Prescott et al., 2000).

The present study found that mortality during pre-slaughter time in the Italian slaughtering system is, on average, 0.35, 0.38, and 1.22% in broilers, turkeys, and spent hens, respectively. Mortality of spent hens was found to be very critical for bird welfare. Higher DOA incidence was found in all poultry categories in the summer, confirming the importance of heat stress in determining the death of birds during preslaughter phases. Furthermore, abattoir size was found to have an effect on DOA; DOA was found to be lower in small abattoirs compared to medium and large abattoirs.

In conclusion, the data obtained in this study might be used for establishing limit values of DOA as welfare indicators during preslaughter time of birds. In fact, the term "welfare" is relevant only when an animal is alive, but death during handling and transport is preceded by a period of poor welfare (European Food Safety Authority, 2004). The official veterinarian should check to see if the DOA percentage exceeds some established limit values, and the owner or keeper of the abattoir should be notified by the competent authority to improve catching and loading operations and conditions during transport and holding at the abattoir, as indicated in the recent EU proposal of Council Directive 2005/99/CNS (European Union, 2005b).


   ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
We are grateful to the Italian branch (Società Italiana di Patologia Aviare) of the World Veterinary Poultry Association for the coordination of the work.

Received for publication October 28, 2005. Accepted for publication May 4, 2006.


   REFERENCES
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Barbut, S. 2002. Catching and hauling live birds. Pages 61–79 in Poultry Products Processing: An Industry Guide. CRC Press, New York, NY.

Barontini, F., G. Rossi, P. Gaspari, and P. Mani. 1999. Indagine sulle cause di mortalità pre-macellazione del broiler. Pages 289–293 in Proc. IX Conv. Assoc. Ital. Vet. Ispettori. Colle Val d’Elsa, Siena, Italy. AIVI, Siena, Italy.

Bayliss, P. A., and M. H. Hinton. 1990. Transportation of poultry with special reference to mortality rates. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 28:93–118.

Bingham, A. N. 1986. Automation of broiler harvesting. Poult. Int. 25:41–42.

Bremner, A., and M. Johnston. 1996. Poultry Meat Hygiene and Inspection. W. B. Saunders, London, UK.

European Food Safety Authority. 2004. The welfare of animals during transport. Scientific report of the Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare on a request from the Commission related to the welfare of animals during transport (Question No. EFSA-Q-2003-094). Eur. Food Saf. Auth., Parma, Italy.

Ekstrand, C. 1998. An observational cohort study of the effects of catching method on carcass rejection rates in broilers. Anim. Welf. 7:87–96.

Elrom, K. 2001. Handling and transportation of broilers – welfare, stress, fear and meat quality. Part VI: The consequences of handling and transportation of chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). Isr. J. Vet. Med. 56:1–5.

European Union. 2005a. Pages 0001–0044 in Council Regulation No. 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations amending directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and regulation (EC) No. 1255/97. Offic. J. Eur. Union L 003 of 05/01/2005.

European Union. 2005b. Proposal for a Council Directive (2005/0099/CNS) laying down minimum rules for the protection of chickens kept for meat production. http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/animal/welfare/farm/proposal_EN.pdf. Accessed May 2005

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2005. Subject: FAO Statistical Databases. http://apps.fao.org. Accessed Oct. 2005.

Gregory, N. G., and S. D. Austin. 1992. Causes of trauma in broilers arriving dead at poultry processing plants. Vet. Rec. 131:501–503.[Abstract]

Gregory, N. G., and L. J. Wilkins. 1989. Broken bones in domestic fowl: Handling and processing damage in end-of-lay battery hens. Br. Poult. Sci. 30:555–562.[ISI][Medline]

Gregory, N. G., L. J. Wilkins, T. G. Knowles, P. Sørensen, and T. Van Niekerk. 1994. Incidence of bone fractures in European layers. Pages 126–128 in Proc. 9th Eur. Poult. Conf., Glasgow, UK. EPC, Glaskow, UK.

Knowles, T. G., and D. M. Broom. 1990. The handling and transport of broilers and spent hens. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 28:75–91.

Mitchell, M. A., and P. J. Kettlewell. 1998. Physiological stress and welfare of broiler chickens in transit: Solutions not problems! Poult. Sci. 77:1803–1814.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Nicol, C. J., and G. B. Scott. 1990. Pre-slaughter handling and transport of broiler chickens. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 28:57–73.

Nijdam, E., P. Arens, E. Lambooij, E. Decuypere, and J. A. Stegeman. 2004. Factors influencing bruises and mortality of broilers during catching, transport, and lairage. Poult. Sci. 83:1610–1615.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Petracci, M., M. Bianchi, and C. Cavani. 2005. Preslaughter factors affecting mortality, liveweight loss, and carcass quality in broiler chickens. Pages 104–107 in Proc. XVII Eur. Symp. Qual. Poult. Meat, Doorwerth, The Netherlands.

Prescott, N. B., S. Berry, S. Haslam, and D. B. Tinker. 2000. Catching and crating turkeys: Effects on carcass damage, heart rate, and other welfare parameters. J. Appl. Poult. Res. 9:424–432.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

SAS Institute. 1988. SAS/STAT Guide for Personal Computers. Version 6.03. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.

Warriss, P. D., E. A. Bevis, S. N. Brown, and J. E. Edwards. 1992. Longer journeys to processing plants are associated with higher mortality in broiler chickens. Br. Poult. Sci. 33:201–206.[ISI][Medline]

Warriss, P. D., L. J. Wilkins, and T. G. Knowles. 1999. The influence of ante mortem handling on poultry meat quality. Pages 217–230 in Poultry Meat Science. R. I. Richardson and G. C. Mead, ed. CABI Publ., Wallingford, UK.

Weeks, C., and C. Nicol. 2000. Pages 363–384 in Livestock Handling and Transport. 2nd ed. T. Grandin, ed. CAB International, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK.

Whitehead, C. C., and R. H. Fleming. 2000. Osteoporosis in cage layers. Poult. Sci. 79:1033–1041.[Abstract/Free Full Text]





This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Petracci, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lavazza, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Petracci, M.
Right arrow Articles by Lavazza, A.

HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS