A quantitative survey among Flemish poultry farmers on how birds fit fot transport to the slaughterhouse are selected, caught and loaded

Femke Delanglez, Anneleen Watteyn, Gunther Antonissen, Evelyne Delezie, H Van Meirhaeghe, Nathalie Sleeckx, Frank Tuyttens

Onderzoeksoutput: Bijdrage aan congresC3: Congres - Meeting abstractpeer review

Uittreksel

At the end of their productive period, broilers and most spent laying hens deemed fit-for-transport are caught, loaded, and transported to the slaughterhouse. Although this pre-slaughter stage is a high-risk phase for animal welfare issues and production losses, detailed up-to-date information about commercial practices is scant. Flemish poultry farmers were surveyed about current selection, catching, and loading practices, actions taken to prevent animal welfare issues or production losses, and their opinions about these practices. An online survey was filled out by 133 of 202 and 80 of 156 Flemish broiler and layer farmers contacted, respectively. For analysis, logistic and linear regression models were used. A minority of poultry farmers performed an extra selection of chickens unfit-for-transport shortly before catching and loading (layers 25%, broilers 39%). On average, this extra selection took one hour. Common preparations before catching and loading poultry include removing feeders (78% & 96%) and water facilities (29% and 62%), changing the light schedule (73% and 81%), changing ventilation settings (33% and 69%), removing manure (layers 43%), and fences under aviary system (layers 24%) and closing laying nests (layers 57%). On a scale from 0-100%, poultry farmers indicated that animal welfare was rather well guaranteed during catching and loading (layers 86%, broilers 83%), and that catching and loading poultry is physical (layers 68%, broilers 73%), and to a lesser extent, mentally (layers 42%, broilers 42%) exhausting for the catchers. More broiler farmers believed that the type of container affects the birds’ welfare compared to layer farmers (49% vs 28%,Pa score from 1-10 (1=best and 10=worst). Farmers considered catching and holding chickens with a single leg and with three chickens per hand the best method regarding cost and time efficiency (2.9) and the wellbeing of the catcher (3.4). The method that was considered best for animal welfare was holding them by both legs and with two animals per hand (3.8), followed by holding them upright was considered the best (4.7). The latter method, however, scored poorly for catcher wellbeing (7) and cost and time efficiency (7.8). Catching and holding chickens by their wings was the least preferred method: economic and time efficiency (9), wellbeing catcher (8.7), and animal welfare (8.2). In conclusion, this survey provides in-depth knowledge on how broilers and spent hens are selected, caught, and loaded in Flanders, and reveals opportunities and sensitivities for optimizing this process.
Oorspronkelijke taalEngels
Aantal pagina’s1
PublicatiestatusGepubliceerd - 21-jul.-2023
EvenementUFAW Online Animal Welfare Conference 2023 - Online
Duur: 20-jun.-202321-jun.-2023
https://www.ufaw.org.uk/ufaw-events/ufaw-online-animal-welfare-conference-2023
https://www.ufaw.org.uk/downloads/ufaw-conference-2023programme-bookfinal.pdf

Congres

CongresUFAW Online Animal Welfare Conference 2023
Verkorte titelUFAW 2023
Periode20/06/2321/06/23
Internet adres

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