Broiler carcass quality using head-only electrical stunning in a waterbath.

Jeffrey Lines (1) , Steve Wotton (2) , Rob Barker (3) , Jade Spence (4) , Lindsey Wilkins (2) , Toby Knowles (2)

1 Silsoe Livestock Systems
2 Department of Clinical Veterinary Science
3 Cargill Meats
4 The Humane Slaughter Association

1. The objective was to assess carcass quality of broilers when they were stunned by immersing their heads in a waterbath with an electric current flowing from one side of it to the other, while a second small current passed through the body to the waterbath to prevent involuntary wing flapping. 2. The prevalence of wing, shoulder and breast fillet haemorrhages and of broken bones in the pectoral region was not greater than that resulting from the normal stunning practice in that plant (63 mA, 610 Hz pDC). 3. These results imply that carcass damage using this technique will be significantly lower than that which will result from the application higher stunning currents required by the new EU slaughter poultry slaughter regulations.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Domaines: Biologie animale

Jeffrey Lines, Steve Wotton, Rob Barker, Jade Spence, Lindsey Wilkins, et al.. Broiler carcass quality using head-only electrical stunning in a waterbath.. British Poultry Science, 2011, 52 (04), pp.439-445. ⟨10.1080/00071668.2011.587181⟩. ⟨hal-00732519⟩