Improved Efficiency of Intact Crop Removal for Broiler Breeder Rooster and Hen Carcasses During Manual Evisceration

By using a technique that previously demonstrated improved efficiency of intact crop removal for broilers, experiments were conducted to determine the effectiveness of the technique in 40and 41-wk-old broiler breeder roosters and hens. The technique involved (after scalding, defeathering, and head removal) separating (breaking) the neck from the carcass parallel with the shoulders and leaving the ventral neck skin, trachea, and esophagus intact. With an individual carcass suspended by its wings from a shackle, the esophagus was grasped above the proventriculus within the thoracic cavity, and the crop was pulled through the thoracic inlet. The maximum load required to remove the crop from the carcass was recorded, and it was determined if the crops removed were intact or ruptured. Carcasses that had the neck broken prior to crop removal had significantly more crops removed intact (85%, 35 of 40) for both rooster and hen carcasses compared with only 20% removed intact (8 of 40 carcasses) for rooster and hen carcasses in which the neck remained unbroken. The load required to remove the crop was influenced by gender and treatment. Rooster carcasses required a higher load (5.7 kg) than hen carcasses (4.9 kg), and for rooster carcasses, breaking the neck prior to evisceration resulted in a lower load (5.2 kg) to remove the crop than that of carcasses in which the neck remained unbroken (6.2 kg). The difference (0.2 kg) in the load recorded for crops removed intact and those that ruptured was not significant and suggests that crops ruptured during removal resulted from external attachments and not to inherent weakness. Breaking the neck of broiler breeder carcasses prior to evisceration improved the efficiency of intact crop removal (85% removed intact) and would thereby minimize the incidence of crop contents contaminating the carcass during evisceration.