Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T17:05:06.602Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fit for transport? Broiler chicken fitness assessment for transportation to slaughter

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

L Jacobs ,
E Delezie ,
L Duchateau ,
K Goethals ,
D Vermeulen ,
J Buyse  and
FAM Tuyttens
L Jacobs
Affiliation:
Animal Sciences Unit, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Scheldeweg 68, 9090 Melle, Belgium Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
E Delezie
Affiliation:
Animal Sciences Unit, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Scheldeweg 68, 9090 Melle, Belgium
L Duchateau
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
K Goethals
Affiliation:
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
D Vermeulen
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Livestock Physiology, Division of Animal and Human Health Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
J Buyse
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Livestock Physiology, Division of Animal and Human Health Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
FAM Tuyttens*
Affiliation:
Animal Sciences Unit, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Scheldeweg 68, 9090 Melle, Belgium Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
*
* Contact for correspondence and request for reprints: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

EU legislation stipulates that unfit broilers may not be transported, but no guidelines for fitness-for-transport assessment are provided. Moreover, the impact of pre-slaughter conditions (eg crate stocking density) may depend on broiler fitness. We aimed to evaluate a fitness-assessment method and test physiological responses to the pre-slaughter phase with different stocking densities. Broilers (41 days; n = 1,939) were transported for 45 min at ‘high’ (160 cm2 per kg), ‘medium’ (190 cm2 per kg) or ‘low’ (220 cm2 per kg) stocking density, and were subjected to a commercially representative pre-slaughter phase duration of ≈ 16 h. Pre-loading, lameness, illness, hock burns, foot-pad dermatitis, lesions, physical defects, cleanliness and cachexia were scored on a sample, for categorisation as fit (n = 49) or unfit (n = 25). Blood was collected before and after the pre-slaughter phase for determination of plasma levels of corticosterone (CORT), lactate, glucose and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS). Lameness, foot-pad dermatitis, lesions, illness, defects, and cachexia scores were, or tended to be, correlated with ≥ 1 physiological stress indicators. Unfit chickens tended to show or showed lower pre-transport glucose and lactate levels than fit chickens. Post-lairage, unfit chickens had higher TBARS and lower lactate levels compared to fit chickens. At high and low stocking densities, unfit chickens showed higher CORT levels than fit chickens. Furthermore, CORT levels of unfit chickens increased more at low stocking density. The results show that our method potentially identifies chickens experiencing additional stress during the pre-slaughter phase, due to poor physical condition. High and low stocking density proved a stressor for all, and especially for unfit chickens, with detrimental implications for their welfare.

Keywords

animal-based welfare measureanimal welfarebroiler chickenfitness-for-transport assessmentphysiological stresspre-slaughter phase
Type
Articles
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , August 2017 , pp. 335 - 343
Copyright
© 2017 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Altan, Ö, Pabuçcuoglu, A, Altan, A, Konyalioglu, S and Bayraktar, H 2003 Effect of heat stress on oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and some stress parameters in broilers. British Poultry Science 44: 545–550. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071660310001618334CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Andreasen, SN, Kirchner, MK and Kristensen, HH 2014 Fitness for transport of Danish broiler chicken. Procedures of the EAAP: 65th Annual Meeting p 438. 25-29 August 2014, Copenhagen, DenmarkGoogle Scholar
Ansari-Lari, M and Rezagholi, M 2007 Poultry abattoir survey of carcass condemnations in Fars province, southern Iran. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 79: 287–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2006.12.004CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bestman, MWP, Ruis, M, van Middelkoop, K and Heijmans, J 2009 Kipsignalen: Praktijkgids voor diergericht pluimvee houden. Roodbont: Zutphen, The Netherlands. [Title translation: Guide to animal-based poultry]Google Scholar
Buyse, J, Janssens, K, Van der Geyten, S, Van As, P, Decuypere, E and Darras, VM 2002 Pre-and postprandial changes in plasma hormone and metabolite levels and hepatic deiodinase activities in meal-fed broiler chickens. The British Journal of Nutrition 88: 641–653. https://doi.org/10.1079/BJN2002741CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chauvin, C, Hillion, S, Balaine, L, Michel, V, Peraste, J, Petetin, I, Lupo, C and Le Bouquin, S 2011 Factors associated with mortality of broilers during transport to slaughterhouse. Animal 5: 287–293. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731110001916CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chloupek, P, Bedanova, I, Chloupek, J and Vecerek, V 2011 Changes in selected biochemical indices resulting from various pre-sampling handling techniques in broilers. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 53(1): 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-53-31CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delezie, E 2006 Manual and mechanical catching and transport of broil-ers: Implications for welfare, physiology and product quality and ethical con-siderations. PhD Dissertation Nr 721, KU Leuven, BelgiumGoogle Scholar
Delezie, E, Lips, D, Lips, R and Decuypere, E 2006 Is the mechanisation of catching broilers a welfare improvement? Animal Welfare 15(2): 141–147Google Scholar
Delezie, E, Swennen, Q, Buyse, J and Decuypere, E 2007 The effect of feed withdrawal and crating density in transit on metab-olism and meat quality of broilers at slaughter weight. Poultry Science 86: 1414–1423. https://doi.org/10.1093/ps/86.7.1414CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EFSA 2011 European Food Safety Authority Scientific Opinion Concerning the Welfare of Animals during Transport. EFSA Journal 9: 1966–2091CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eurogroup for Animals, UECBV, Animals’ Angels, ELT, FVE and IRU 2012 Practical Guidelines to Assess Fitness for Transport of Adult Bovines. http://www.afsca.be/publications-en/_documents/2012-05-11_final_transport_guidelines_en.pdfGoogle Scholar
Evans, WJ, Morley, JE, Argilés, J, Bales, C, Baracos, V, Guttridge, D, Jatoi, A, Kalantar-Zadeh, K, Lochs, H and Mantovani, G 2008 Cachexia: a new definition. Clinical Nutrition 27: 793–799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2008.06.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, AD, Colditz, IG, Lee, C and Ferguson, DM 2009 The influence of land transport on animal welfare in extensive farming systems. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 4: 157–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2009.03.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, L, Delezie, E, Duchateau, L, Goethals, K, Ampe, B, Lambrecht, E, Gellynck, X and Tuyttens, FAM 2016 Effect of post-hatch transportation duration and parental age on broiler chicken quality, welfare, and productivity. Poultry Science 95: 1973–1979. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pew155CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacobs, L, Delezie, E, Duchateau, L, Goethals, K and Tuyttens, FAM 2017 Broiler chickens dead on arrival: associat-ed risk factors and welfare indicators. Poultry Science 96(2): 259–265. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pew353CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Julian, RJ 1998 Rapid growth problems: ascites and skeletal defor-mities in broilers. Poultry Science 77: 1773–1780. https://doi.org/10.1093/ps/77.12.1773CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knowles, TG, Kestin, SC, Haslam, SM, Brown, SN, Green, LE, Butterworth, A, Pope, SJ, Pfeiffer, D and Nicol, CJ 2008 Leg dis-orders in broiler chickens: prevalence, risk factors and prevention. PLoS ONE 3(2): 1545. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0001545CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knowles, TG, Warriss, PD, Brown, SN, Edwards, JE and Mitchell, MA 1995 Response of broilers to deprivation of food and water for 24 hours. The British Veterinary Journal 151: 197–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0007-1935(95)80011-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kopecsnik, M 2008 Effect of transport conditions on the losses during transport of broiler chickens. Magyar Allatorvosok Lapja 130: 391–395Google Scholar
Lin, H, Decuypere, E and Buyse, J 2004 Oxidative stress induced by corticosterone administration in broiler chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus): 1 Chronic exposure. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part B, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology 139: 737–744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpc.2004.09.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Livestockwelfare.com 2017 Should this bird be loaded? A guide for preparing, loading, and transporting poultry. http://www.poul-tryindustrycouncil.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DT-Handbook-final.compressed.pdfGoogle Scholar
Mollah, MB, Hasan, MA, Salam, MA and Ali, MA 2010 Digital image analysis to estimate the live weight of broiler. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 72: 48–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2010.02.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nijdam, E, Arens, P, Lambooij, E, Decuypere, E and Stegeman, JA 2004 Factors influencing bruises and mortality of broilers during catching, transport, and lairage. Poultry Science 83(9): 1610–1615. https://doi.org/10.1093/ps/83.9.1610CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nijdam, E, Delezie, E, Lambooij, E, Nabuurs, MJ, Decuypere, E and Stegeman, JA 2005 Feed withdrawal of broilers before transport changes plasma hormone and metabo-lite concentrations. Poultry Science 84: 1146–1152. https://doi.org/10.1093/ps/84.7.1146CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ohkawa, H, Ohishi, N and Yagi, K 1979 Assay for lipid perox-ides in animal tissues by thiobarbituric acid reaction. Biochemistry and Analytical Biochemistry 95: 351–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-2697(79)90738-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanotra, GS, Berg, C and Lund, JD 2003 A comparison between leg problems in Danish and Swedish broiler production. Animal Welfare 12: 677–683Google Scholar
Tuyttens, FAM, de Graaf, S, Heerkens, JLT, Jacobs, L, Nalon, E, Ott, S, Stadig, L, Van Laer, E and Ampe, B 2014 Observer bias in animal behaviour research: can we believe what we score, if we score what we believe? Animal Behaviour 90: 273–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.02.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Dixhoorn, IDE, Kluivers-Poodt, M, Smolders, EAA, Hindle, VA and Lambooij, E 2010 Fit for travel/Fitness during transport: Selectie van criteria om geschiktheid voor (lang) transport van varkens en rundvee te bepalen. Wageningen UR Livestock Research: Wageningen, The Netherlands. http://edepot.wur.nl/160697. [Title translation: Selection of criteria to determine fit-ness-for-transport in pigs and cattle]Google Scholar
Wade, CR and van Rij, AM 1988 Plasma thiobarbituric acid reactiv-ity: reaction conditions and the role of iron, antioxidants and lipid per-oxy radicals on the quantitation of plasma lipid peroxides. Life Sciences 43: 1085–1093. https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(88)90204-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welfare Quality® 2009 Welfare Quality® Assessment for Poultry (Broilers, Laying Hens). Welfare Quality® Consortium: Lelystad, The Netherlands. http://www.welfarequality.net/network/45848/7/0/40Google Scholar
Whiting, TL, Drain, ME and Rasali, DP 2007 Warm weather transport of broiler chickens in Manitoba II. Truck management factors associated with death loss in transit to slaughter. The Canadian Veterinary Journal 48: 148Google ScholarPubMed
World Horse Welfare, FEEVA, Animals’ Angels, ATA, BCP-CBC, Eurogroup for Animals FVE, FISE, COPA-COGECA UECBV, Austrian Federal Chamber of Veterinary Surgeons AWIN and FFE 2015 Practical Guidelines to Assess Fitness for Transport of Equidae (Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and their Hybrids). https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/animal-healthwelfare/transportofliveanimals/GuidelinesAssessFitnessTransp ortEquidae050716.pdfGoogle Scholar