Investigation of the occurrence of pathological carcass alterations at the processing plant in meat turkeys reared in organic production systems in Germany

In the present study occurrence of turkey carcass alterations such as breast skin lesions, liver and swelling hock joint in turkeys reared organic farms was investigated at slaughterhouses Germany. The examinations included 1,860 carcasses 2 lines Kelly Broad Breasted Bronze(BBB) (540 toms 540 hens) British United Turkeys (Big 6 Test Product 7) (780 hens). results showed that lesions were rare (1.7%). On other hand, a common finding both hens toms. Nearly half all affected (49.3%). Swelling detected 17.3% turkeys; BBB significantly higher than (toms: 28.7%; hens: 16.9%). general, there significant differences between flocks. Carcass are major animal welfare concern, which affect conventional turkeys. Investigating provides necessary precondition to establish benchmarking system evaluate compare farms. aim is reduce and/or eliminate these long term order improve welfare.