Examining the catching, carrying, and crating process during depopulation of end-of-lay hens

Gerpe, Christopher; Stratmann, Ariane; Bruckmaier, Rupert M.; Toscano, Michael J.

doi:10.1016/j.japr.2020.100115

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Substantially more trauma was recorded for end-of-lay hens and rabbits. Levels of injury are seldom reported in the literature but Gerpe et al [14] recorded a rate of severe injury of 8.1% during catching and crating of end-of-lay hens from aviaries, which is substantially more than our findings for hens removed predominantly from the enriched cage system. A predisposing factor in cage housing may be the removal of hens from their cages, where numerous injuries may occur when hens are dragged through the cage opening, with furniture such as perches an additional hazard [2].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 80%

“…Most injuries resulting from pre-slaughter handling are found on the wings, and less frequently on the limbs and trunk [ 8 , 9 , 11 ]. In laying hens, a major risk is posed by pulling end-of-lay hens out of cages [ 2 , 13 , 14 ] and manually transferring birds into transport containers, where limb injuries are most likely to occur [ 14 , 15 ]. Osteoporosis is also an important predisposing factor, leading to fractures of the limbs and keel bone due to demineralization and increased bone fragility and brittleness [ 16 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Traumatic Injuries Detected during Post-Mortem Slaughterhouse Inspection as Welfare Indicators in Poultry and Rabbits

Válková

Voslářová

Večerek

et al. 2021

Animals

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The findings of traumatic injuries during post-mortem inspection in slaughterhouses reflect the level of pre-slaughter handling of animals at the farm and during transport to the slaughterhouse. The prevalence of traumatic injuries was monitored in poultry (1,089,406,687 broiler chickens, 20,030,744 laying hens, 1,181,598 turkeys, 37,690 geese, 28,579,765 ducks) and rabbits (1,876,929) originating from farms in the Czech Republic and slaughtered in slaughterhouses in the Czech Republic between 2010 and 2019. The greatest incidence of traumatic injuries was found in laying hens (2.80%) and rabbits (1.52%); while the overall incidence of trauma was less than 0.5% in other species and categories. The results show that the current rearing conditions and/or pre-slaughter handling of poultry and rabbits particularly affect the limbs; traumatic findings were significantly (p < 0.01) more frequent on the limbs than on the trunk in all species studied. In poultry, traumatic findings on the trunk were orders of magnitude lower to negligible, so the focus should be on preventing injuries to the limbs. In rabbits, the difference was less pronounced, and many injuries were found on both limbs (0.83%) and trunk (0.69%). Our results emphasize the need to reconsider both housing and pre-slaughter handling methods to determine minimum standards for the protection of rabbits, which are still lacking in European legislation.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traumatic Injuries Detected during Post-Mortem Slaughterhouse Inspection as Welfare Indicators in Poultry and Rabbits

Válková

Voslářová

Večerek

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…In the Belgorod region, crosses of foreign selection are used at all industrial enterprises. These crosses differ in production, but the consumer's demand is also taken into account here [1,2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of sprouted barley grain in the diet of meat hens of the parent herd

et al. 2021

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The use of sprouted barley grain for an adult poultry of a parent flock of meat production is of scientific and practical interest. According to the research methodology, we formed 4 groups of experimental birds, at the age of 140 days, 10 chickens and 10 cockerels in each. The test period lasted 280 days. The poultry of the control group received a standard complete feed containing barley grains in an amount of 20% by weight of the compound feed, in accordance with the adopted feeding scheme. Poultry of groups 2,3,4 received in addition to the main diet sprouted barley grain in the amount of 20 g per head. In this experiment, the question of the effectiveness of using sprouted grain, depending on the feeding regime, was considered. A positive trend was revealed when feeding sprouted grain in addition to a complete feed, in the evening.

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“…Injuries may occur during removal from cages, when birds collide with cage equipment (feeders, perches, nest boxes) or the cage entrance. Collisions with pen furniture during hen catching have also been identified as a major source of fractures during the depopulation of aviary systems (Gerpe et al 2021). Birds may also be injured when they are carried down the narrow aisles of a hen house (Weeks 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Birds may also be injured when they are carried down the narrow aisles of a hen house (Weeks 2014). Another risk of injury is posed by crating during loading and removal from the crates during unloading at the slaughterhouse when hens can be injured while passing through the doors (Knowles and Wilkins 1998;Gerpe et al 2021). Gerpe et al (2021) assessed the welfare of hens during depopulation on 15 farms and found approximately 8.1% of hens exhibiting skeletal injuries such as bone damage or dislocated joints that appeared to have resulted from depopulation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of traumatic limb injuries resulting from operations related to transport for slaughter on biochemical indices in end-of-lay hens

Válková¹,

Voslářová²,

Hostovský³

et al. 2023

Acta Vet. Brno

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The study focused on the welfare of end-of-lay hens during their transportation for slaughter from the viewpoint of the stress load on hens resulting from unsatisfactory treatment that leads to traumatic injury to the limbs of hens detected during the veterinary examination of hens at the slaughterhouse. Blood samples were taken during bleeding after slaughter at the slaughterhouse for the determination of corticosterone and other biochemical indices from 35 hens with traumatic limb injuries and 35 hens without traumatic limb injuries. The stress load during the transportation of hens for slaughter potentiated by traumatic injuries was found to increase (P < 0.01) the plasma corticosterone concentration as an indicator of stress in birds (6381 pg/ml vs. 3681 pg/ml) and affect the plasma concentration of some biochemical indices, in particular increasing (P < 0.05) the level of total protein and albumin and decreasing (P < 0.05) levels of triglycerides, calcium and alanine aminotransferase. These findings demonstrate that hens with traumatic limb injuries occurring during the course of transport (loading, transport, unloading) are burdened by a greater degree of stress than hens that have not suffered traumatic injuries. From the viewpoint of the protection and welfare of end-of-lay hens, this study unequivocally demonstrates the necessity of the corresponding careful handling of birds during their loading onto and unloading from means of transport during transportation to the slaughterhouse – the kind of handling that does not cause injuries and, thereby, an increased stress load on hens slaughtered at the slaughterhouse.

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Examining the catching, carrying, and crating process during depopulation of end-of-lay hens

Cited by 10 publications

References 58 publications

Traumatic Injuries Detected during Post-Mortem Slaughterhouse Inspection as Welfare Indicators in Poultry and Rabbits

Traumatic Injuries Detected during Post-Mortem Slaughterhouse Inspection as Welfare Indicators in Poultry and Rabbits

The use of sprouted barley grain in the diet of meat hens of the parent herd

The impact of traumatic limb injuries resulting from operations related to transport for slaughter on biochemical indices in end-of-lay hens

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