How to use various means for carrying broilers

1. TRANSPORT OF BROILERS

2. Introduction
• The pre-slaughter transport of poultries consists in carrying birds
from farm to slaughter house under the most different conditions
and combinations of distances and times.
• These combinations directly reflect on meat quality and, in most
cases, are primarily responsible for losses (deaths)
• There is a direct association between meat quality and pre-
slaughter handling either at the farm, animal transport, or slaughter
house (SANTOS et al., 2010).

3. General Aspects of Handling and
Transportation of Broilers
• There are several welfare problems associated with pure handling
• Handling and transportation may adversely affect mortality and
product quality
• Birds are exposed to a wide variety of potential stressors
• Such as withdrawal of food and water, fracture, bruises, pain,
stocking density, social disruption and restriction of behaviour
• Increased automatic handling procedures may be one way to
reduce physical damage and stress

4. Time of handling and transportation
• Transportation is usually done at night or early morning
• Catching in the dark has been shown to have beneficial effect on
broilers.
• Intermittent lighting will increase the damage during handling. But
welfare is improved
• A recent survey of poultry transport found journey times for
broilers of up to 3h, with averages of 1.2 to 1.3h

5. Transport distance vs. mortality
• Mortality is also increased with increasing journey time
(Warriss et al., 1992a).

6. Transportation Methods
A) Bi-cycle and motor cycle method
B) Truck method

7. Floor/space allowance
• There appears to be little or no research on appropriate stocking
densities for broilers or hens during transport
• According to Canadian recommendations (Anon, 2001) –
1) for growing and adult birds, the maximum density in “cold”
weather/winter should be 63 kg/m2
2) The stocking density in summer should be reduced from this
value,
• New Zealand recommendations (Anon, 1994) are
1) poultry weighing less than 1.6 kg need 175 cm2/kg
2) Those weighing 1 to 3 kg need 150 cm2/kg and
3) Those weighing 3 to 5 kg need 110 cm2/kg.

8. Temperature requirements – optimum conditions and limits:
• Temperatures of 40-65°C may impose mild to moderate
physiological stress (alert) and
• Those of <40°C may be considered to associated with minimal
stress and are thus safe
(Mitchell and Kettlewell 1998; Cockram and Mitchell 1999).
• It is recommended that temperature more than >65°C in transport
containers should be avoided
• As these thermal loads would be associated with severe thermal
stress (danger zone) and increased mortality

10. The effects of transport on poultry
 Possible Outcome of Welfare Problems Associated With
Catching, Transportation, And Unloading
• Metabolic exhaustion
• Bruises
• Dehydration
• Broken bones
• Emotional stress
• Skin damage

11. • Duncan, 1989 evidenced that- the collecting, transport and handling
of broilers is stressful , leading to fear, as evidenced by tonic
immobility measurements (Cashman et al., 1989)
• Handling, crating and transport of broilers are associated with
physiological changes in the birds indicative of stress (Kannan and
Mench, 1996; Freeman et al., 1984; Mitchell et al., 1992)
• The birds may be exposed to a variety of potential stressors like
fasting, withdrawal of water, social disruption and noise (Nicol and
Scott 1990; Mitchell et al. 1992)

12. • Birds may suffer from thermal stress during transport.
(Kettlewell, et al. 1993; Webster et al, 1993) and
• Heat stress is thought to be a major factor in deaths (Bayliss and
Hinton, 1990)
• Birds may suffer physical damage, especially during catching,
this taking the form of broken bones, bruising and
haemorrhaging.

13. Live shrinkage
• When birds are shipped to market, they are taken off feed which
causes them to lose weight. This weight loss is known as shrink
and is also a financial loss.
• It may help to reduce salmonella contamination during processing
• for every 5°C decrease in ambient temperature there was an
additional 0.4% shrink
• Live shrinkage may be occurred in 2 places
1) In the farm itself &
2) from farm to slaughter house during transport

14. Factors affecting live shrinkage
• High environmental temperature combined with long holding
time‘s causes excessive live shrinkage
• The holding period of the birds in crates and the temperature
during that period also influences the body weight loss
• From production to slaughtering about 1-5 % live shrinkage may
occur in broilers.

15. Mortality
• Swarbrick (1986) cites a case of 26% of culled hens, and Warriss
et al. (1992a) recorded a case of 15% of broilers, in single loads
• Because of the numbers of birds transported these percentages
translate into very large absolute numbers of birds dead on
arrival (DOA)
• A major causal factor is heat stress, but many birds also die of
traumatic injuries (Gregory and Austin, 1992).
• Even at a rate of 0.2 –0.3% mortality is much higher than would
be expected in non-transported birds.

16. Physical damage
• Lack of care during handling can lead to-
broken bones, dislocated bones, bruising, internal haemorrhages
and crushing injuries
• All these conditions are important from the point of view of meat
quality, as well as welfare, because they downgrade the value of
the meat.

17. Meat Quality
• Exposing birds to cold temperatures causes Dry, Firm and Dark
(DFD) meat
• DFD meat is darker in colour and holds more water even though
it feels dry to the touch
• Because the meat retains more water, it has a reduced shelf life
because increased moisture promotes microbial growth

18. Effects of food and water deprivation
Causes of food and water deprivation:
• Because birds do not have access to food and water during
transport- they may become hungry and dehydrated
• The latter is particularly likely with high ambient temperatures
when large amounts of water may be lost through panting
• Birds are also deprived of food, and to a degree, water before they
are caught and crated
• This is to partially empty their guts in the interest of improved
hygiene at slaughter.

19. • Food deprivation leads to live weight loss, the rate being rather
variable (see: Warriss et al, 1999b), and after long deprivation,
carcass weight loss
• It also reduces liver weight and glycogen levels in the liver and
some muscles, (Warriss et al, 1988) which could induce feelings
of fatigue (Warriss et al, 1993)

20. Strategies and solutions - improved
ventilation
• A number of modifications to existing passively ventilated
vehicles may be made in order to improve air flow through the
load space
• However, the success of these strategies is limited particularly in
the face of the different climatic conditions encountered in many
major broiler producing regions.
• If current transport numbers per vehicle are to be maintained to-
then forced or mechanical ventilation may be the only feasible
option.

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