Influence of crate height during slaughter transport on the welfare of male turkeys

Abstract

1. Poultry are usually transported in crates which provide the birds with very limited space. Slaughter transport of male turkeys is often carried out using crates that are 40 cm or less in height where it is not possible for them to stand up. There is little information on how this physical restriction over many hours affects the birds. 2. The aim of the study was to compare the welfare of male turkeys transported in crates 40 cm and 55 cm in height. Observations on the birds' behaviour during lairage, carcass damage and meat quality were carried out after four commercial slaughter transport journeys. 3. Birds in 40 cm crates panted more and lay down more than birds in 55 cm crates during lairage. A large percentage of the carcasses had some damage. Significantly more birds from the 55 cm crates had scratches on their backs than birds from the 40 cm crates. There was no significant difference in meat quality between birds transported in the two crate heights. 4. Both positive and negative effects of increased crate height were established and there is no evidence from this study that merely increasing crate height improves turkey welfare. Other solutions should therefore be sought in order to improve the welfare of birds during transport.

Welfare of domestic birds and rabbits transported in containers

“…These findings concur with the results of a Canadian study by Wichman et al. (2012), who examined the welfare of male turkeys of 11–12.5 kg live weight transported 4 per crate of either 40 cm or 55 cm in height (floor space was 118–134 cm 2 /kg). Observations on the birds' behaviour during lairage, as well as recordings of carcass damage and meat quality were carried out after four commercial journeys of 40–90 min duration (total time in crates was 4–7 h).…”

“…Based on the higher incidence of traumatic lesions and haematological stress indicators in the crates, enabling standing position, the study concluded that increased vertical space allowance was likely to impair rather than to improve welfare with a crate height of 77 cm in comparison to 38.5 cm for female turkeys weighing 11 kg. These findings concur with the results of a Canadian study by Wichman et al (2012), who examined the welfare of male turkeys of 11-12.5 kg live weight transported 4 per crate of either 40 cm or 55 cm in height (floor space was 118-134 cm 2 /kg). Observations on the birds' behaviour during lairage, as well as recordings of carcass damage and meat quality were carried out after four commercial journeys of 40-90 min duration (total time in crates was 4-7 h).…”

Pre‐slaughter mortality among turkeys related to their transport

“…; Wichman et al . ). Furthermore, poor welfare during transport may result in deteriorated turkey meat quality (Owens & Sams ; Doktor & Poltowicz ), including an increased occurrence of PSE (pale, soft, exudative) meat in turkeys (Sosnicki et al .…”

Evaluación de factores de riesgo que afectan la mortalidad en pollos de engorde durante el proceso de traslado granja-planta de faenamiento en el centro norte de la región interandina

“…Por lo expuesto, varios autores coinciden en señalar que el transporte debe realizarse bajo pará-metros de legislación local, previo a la llegada a la sala de faenamiento, los pollos deben estar protegidos de las distintas condiciones medioambientales, proporcionado ventilación, calefacción y cuando sea necesario, enfriamiento parcial (Aviagen, 2014;Prado et al, 2010;Pita Ponte, 2015;Wichman et al, 2012) y otras medidas como poner límites a factores como la densidad de carga de pollos de engorde, además de aplicar planes voluntarios de certificación que pueden lograr mayores niveles de bienestar (FAO, 2012). Este estudio permite señalar que, a edades más juveniles, los pollos sufren menos estrés por transporte y, por tanto, acusan menor mortalidad.…”