Incidence of Salmonella in processed broilers following transportation in contaminated coops

To determine the influence of contaminated live-haul cages (coops) on subsequent contamination of broilers prior to and during processing, broilers subjected to feed withdrawal were transported in sanitized and Salmonella-contaminated coops, processed under simulated commercial conditions, and analyzed for incidence of Salmonella. At 5, 6, or 7 wk of age, 128 broilers from the same research flock were subjected to 4 h feed withdrawal, and placed (8 birds/coop) into pre-assigned plastic coops with solid flooring. Coops were loaded onto a trailer as 2 groups, each consisting of 2 stacks of 4 coops. Group 1, placed on the front of the trailer, consisted of sanitized coops while Group 2 placed on the rear of the trailer had 4 sanitized coops alternating with 4 coops containing feces (0.4 g/cm) from colonized broilers knowingly shedding Salmonella (~10 cfu/g). Broilers were transported 6 h, held 2-3 h, and processed by coop number. Half of the broilers from Group 1 were processed first, all of Group 2 second, and the remaining group 1 broilers last. The latter 2 processing Groups were chilled in a common slush ice bath. From each of 4 birds/coop, incidence of Salmonella in crop, ceca, post-pick carcass rinse and post-chill carcass rinse samples was determined. Salmonella incidence ranged from 10-20% in these samples from broilers transported in the sanitized coops (i.e., first half of Group 1). In contrast, Salmonella incidence ranged from 70-100% in samples from broilers transported in the contaminated coops (i.e., Group 2). Salmonella incidence ranged from 40-90% in samples from broilers transported in the sanitized coops that were processed after the birds from the contaminated coops (i.e., second half of Group 1). This latter observation indicates that significant cross contamination occurred during processing; to the extent that there was no difference (p>0.05) in Salmonella incidence on chilled carcasses from Group 2 (95%) vs second half of Group 1 (90%). Coop position had little effect on Salmonella incidence. __________________________________________________________________________________