Traumatic Injuries Detected during Post-Mortem Slaughterhouse Inspection as Welfare Indicators in Poultry and Rabbits

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F62157124%3A16270%2F21%3A43879459" target="_blank" >RIV/62157124:16270/21:43879459 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/9/2610" target="_blank" >https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/9/2610</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11092610" target="_blank" >10.3390/ani11092610</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Traumatic Injuries Detected during Post-Mortem Slaughterhouse Inspection as Welfare Indicators in Poultry and Rabbits

Original language description

Simple Summary An analysis of the slaughterhouse post-mortem examination records over a decade showed that for animals transported to slaughter in containers, the risk of traumatic injury was highest in laying hens (2.80%) and rabbits (1.52%), while the overall incidence of trauma was below 0.5% in other species. The results show that the current rearing conditions and/or pre-slaughter handling of poultry and rabbits have comparatively negative welfare consequences, with significantly more traumatic injuries to the limbs than on the trunk in all species studied. In poultry, traumatic findings on the trunk were orders of magnitude lower to negligible, so the focus should be on preventing injuries to the limbs. In rabbits, the difference was less pronounced with a high number of injuries found on both limbs and trunk. The findings of traumatic injuries during post-mortem inspection in slaughterhouses reflect the level of pre-slaughter handling of animals at the farm and during transport to the slaughterhouse. The prevalence of traumatic injuries was monitored in poultry (1,089,406,687 broiler chickens, 20,030,744 laying hens, 1,181,598 turkeys, 37,690 geese, 28,579,765 ducks) and rabbits (1,876,929) originating from farms in the Czech Republic and slaughtered in slaughterhouses in the Czech Republic between 2010 and 2019. The greatest incidence of traumatic injuries was found in laying hens (2.80%) and rabbits (1.52%); while the overall incidence of trauma was less than 0.5% in other species and categories. The results show that the current rearing conditions and/or pre-slaughter handling of poultry and rabbits particularly affect the limbs; traumatic findings were significantly (p &lt; 0.01) more frequent on the limbs than on the trunk in all species studied. In poultry, traumatic findings on the trunk were orders of magnitude lower to negligible, so the focus should be on preventing injuries to the limbs. In rabbits, the difference was less pronounced, and many injuries were found on both limbs (0.83%) and trunk (0.69%). Our results emphasize the need to reconsider both housing and pre-slaughter handling methods to determine minimum standards for the protection of rabbits, which are still lacking in European legislation.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

40301 - Veterinary science

Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2021

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Animals

ISSN

2076-2615

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

11

Issue of the periodical within the volume

9

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

11

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

000699139800001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85114379237