Welfare assessment of novel on-farm killing methods for poultry

PloS One
Jessica E MartinD E F McKeegan

Abstract

There is a need for novel mechanical devices for dispatching poultry on farm following the introduction of EU Regulation (EC) no. 1099/2009 On the Protection of Animals at the Time of Killing. We examined three novel mechanical killing devices: Modified Armadillo, Modified Rabbit Zinger, a novel mechanical cervical dislocation device; and traditional manual cervical dislocation. The four killing methods were tested on 230 chickens across four batches. We measured behavioural, electroencephalogram and post-mortem outcomes in anesthetized laying hens and broilers at two life stages (juveniles and adults/slaughter age). Graeco Latin-Square designs systematically randomized killing treatment, bird type, age and kill order. All birds were lightly anaesthetized immediately prior to the killing treatment with inhalation of Sevoflurane. The novel mechanical cervical dislocation method had the highest kill success rate (single application attempt only, with no signs of recovery) of a mechanical method (96%). The Modified Armadillo was the least reliable with 49% kill success. Spectral analysis of electroencephalogram signals at 2 s intervals for successfully killed birds only revealed progressive decreases in median frequency alongside ...Continue Reading

References

Nov 27, 1999·The Veterinary Record·M H AnilD A Harbour
Jun 30, 2000·Poultry Science·M A GerritzenC Pieterse
Jul 27, 2001·British Poultry Science·A B Raj, M O'Callaghan
Mar 25, 2005·Paediatric Anaesthesia·Isabelle ConstantIsabelle Murat
Mar 15, 2006·Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology·Wolfgang Heinke, Stefan Koelsch
Apr 26, 2006·Best Practice & Research. Clinical Anaesthesiology·P H Tonner, B Bein
Jul 17, 2007·British Dental Journal·P Martin
May 15, 2009·Poultry Science·H J van der SluisW J M Landman
Apr 23, 2010·Journal of Neurophysiology·Joseph T GwinDaniel P Ferris
Jan 10, 2012·British Poultry Science·D E F McKeeganC M Wathes
Mar 19, 2014·Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia·Amanda E McIlhoneDavid J Mellor
Jun 1, 2014·Physiology & Behavior·Dale A SandercockDorothy E F McKeegan
Oct 31, 2014·Animal : an International Journal of Animal Bioscience·M T W VerhoevenB Kemp
Apr 28, 2016·Physiology & Behavior·Jessica E MartinDorothy E F McKeegan
Mar 21, 2018·Animals : an Open Access Journal From MDPI·Caitlin R WoolcottTina M Widowski

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Jul 7, 2020·EFSA Journal·UNKNOWN EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW)Virginie Michel
Jul 7, 2020·EFSA Journal·UNKNOWN EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW)Virginie Michel

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
sedation

Software Mentioned

Genstat
Excel
Spike

Related Concepts