Comparison of the welfare of laying hens, broiler chickens and turkeys in terms of bird health as surveyed during inspection in slaughterhouses

Abstract

During the period 2010–2017 we monitored 17 346 183 laying hens, 887 994 167 broiler chickens and 919 843 turkeys slaughtered at slaughterhouses in the Czech Republic. In cooperation with the State Veterinary Administration, we recorded findings detected in slaughtered birds within the post mortem veterinary inspection. We analysed the total number of patho-anatomical findings (of intravital origin) and the number of findings divided into acute, chronic and traumatic diseases. In hens, the total ratio of the number of patho-anatomical intravital findings to the number of slaughtered birds (index) was found to be 0.378. This index of the incidence of patho-anatomical findings in hens was higher (P < 0.001) than that found in broilers (0.016) and turkeys (0.101). The prevailing findings in hens were chronic changes (26.32%), followed by acute changes (5.29%), but also notable were traumatic changes (3.90%). Compared to the findings in broilers which were divided into chronic (0.34%), acute (0.10%) and traumatic diseases (0.02%) and turkey findings which were broken down into chronic (7.60%), acute (0.16%) and traumatic diseases (0.33%), the findings of acute, chronic and traumatic diseases were higher (P < 0.001) in hens than in broilers and turkeys. These findings show that the health condition and hence the welfare of laying hens as reflected in the patho-anatomical findings during the veterinary inspection of slaughtered birds is significantly worse than the health condition of broilers and turkeys. This demonstrates the need for increased care for laying hens both on farms and in transit to the slaughterhouse.

Patho-anatomic findings in finisher pigs, sows, and piglets detected during veterinary slaughterhouse inspection

“…Comparing the numbers of pathological lesions in clinically healthy animals slaughtered in Lithuania, Januskeviciene et al (2010) found the highest percentage in pigs and the lowest in poultry. The results of our work also confirm a considerably higher incidence of patho-anatomic findings in pigs compared to poultry (broiler chickens, laying hens, turkeys) slaughtered in the Czech Republic in the same period (Vecerek et al 2019;Vecerkova et al 2019).…”

The Welfare of Cattle, Sheep, Goats and Pigs from the Perspective of Traumatic Injuries Detected at Slaughterhouse Postmortem Inspection

“…Bueno et al [ 50 ], who studied the causes of condemnation in pigs at slaughterhouses in Brazil, reported that findings of trauma leading to condemnation included abscesses (28.9%), fractures and hematomas (26.7%), and bruises (0.28%). In Europe (as documented by the previous studies conducted in the Czech Republic), findings of trauma are more frequent in animals reared and transported in cages, i.e., poultry [ 51 , 52 ] and rabbits [ 53 ], than in animals reared and transported unrestrained, i.e., cattle [ 54 , 55 ] and pigs [ 35 , 56 ]. The results of our study also show that findings of trauma were recorded in cattle, sheep, goats and pigs only at low frequency, not exceeding 1% in any of the species monitored in this study with the exception of cows, in which total findings of trauma amounted to 1.71%.…”

The Health and Welfare of Rabbits as Indicated by Post-Mortem Findings at the Slaughterhouse

“…Methodically comparable studies have also been performed on other species of slaughter animals in the past. The only species with an occurrence of pathological findings even lower than that found in rabbits was the broiler chicken (ratio 0.016) [ 13 ]. This ratio was higher in all other studied species: in turkeys (0.101) [ 13 ], pigs (0.809) [ 14 ], and cattle (0.479) [ 15 ].…”

“…The only species with an occurrence of pathological findings even lower than that found in rabbits was the broiler chicken (ratio 0.016) [ 13 ]. This ratio was higher in all other studied species: in turkeys (0.101) [ 13 ], pigs (0.809) [ 14 ], and cattle (0.479) [ 15 ]. Interestingly, completely opposite results were found when comparing mortality rates in these species during their transport to slaughterhouses in the Czech Republic.…”