Welfare indicators during broiler slaughtering

The Welfare of Broiler Chickens

Indicators of poor welfare.

The welfare of an individual is its state as regards its attempts to cope with its environment. Coping can sometimes be achieved with little effort and expenditure of resources, in which case the individual's welfare is satisfactory . Or it may fail to cope at all, in which case its welfare is obviously poor . Or, if the individual does cope with the conditions it encounters, this may be easy, ...

Stocking density effects on broiler welfare: identifying sensitive ranges for different indicators.

Although stocking density is perceived as a topic of major importance, no consensus has been reached on what density would allow for good welfare. In the present study, the welfare of 4 replicates of birds stocked at 8, 19, 29, 40, 45, 51, 61, and 72 broilers per pen (or 6, 15, 23, 33, 35, 41, 47, and 56 kg actually achieved BW/m(2)) was studied using 6 welfare indicators. Density did not affec...

Dehydration indicators for broiler chickens at slaughter.

Freedom of (prolonged) thirst is considered to be of paramount importance for animal welfare. This emotion normally results from dehydration, which can be measured using physiological indicators. Because no reliable physiological indicator for thirst was available for broilers, we aimed to identify such a measure in this study. This indicator would ideally be integrated into quality control sys...

Evaluation of Rabbit Welfare at Stunning and Slaughtering in a Commercial Abattoir

A total of 1020 crossbreed rabbits were individually examined to evaluate their welfare at electric stunning and slaughtering in a commercial abattoir. Stunning (position of electrodes and repetition of current applications) and sticking (position, length and depth of the cut) procedures were checked. Rabbits were behaviourally monitored from current application to death. The stunning system wa...