Department of Animal Protection, Welfare and Behaviour, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno 61242, Czech Republic.
Poult Sci. 2019 Dec 1;98(12):6217-6224. doi: 10.3382/ps/pez468.
The transport of end-of-lay hens for slaughter presents a particular cause for concern in relation to hen welfare due to their less robust condition. During the period of 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2017, 17,436,074 end-of-lay hens transported for slaughter in 3,144 consignments were monitored, i.e., all hens transported from Czech farms to slaughterhouses in the Czech Republic in the monitored period. The overall mortality of hens during transport for slaughter was 0.516%. A significant (P < 0.05) impact of outside temperature and month of the year on transport-related mortality was found. Lower outside temperature was connected with the increased hen mortality and vice versa. Correspondingly, more deaths of end-of-lay hens occurred in the cold winter months of January (0.717%) and December (0.695%); on the contrary, the lowest death rates were recorded in August (0.364%). Differences were also found when comparing transport-related mortality rates according to the transport distance. The lowest mortality (0.338%) was found in hens transported for distances up to 50 km; longer distances were associated with increasing (P < 0.05) death rates, with the greatest losses (0.801%) recorded for distances from 201 to 300 km. These findings document the need for increased care for end-of-lay hens during their transport for slaughter in the winter at lower outside transport temperatures, in particular below 0°C (e.g., by adequate temperature regulation in the means of transport), and of hens transported over longer distances (if the transport distance cannot be reduced).
在运输待宰蛋鸡时，由于其身体状况较差，这对母鸡福利来说是一个特别令人关注的问题。在 2010 年 1 月 1 日至 2017 年 12 月 31 日期间，共监测到 1743.6074 批待宰蛋鸡运输，即监测期间所有从捷克农场运往捷克共和国屠宰场的母鸡。待宰蛋鸡在运输过程中的总死亡率为 0.516%。发现外部温度和一年中的月份对与运输相关的死亡率有显著影响（P<0.05）。较低的外部温度与增加的母鸡死亡率有关，反之亦然。相应地，更多的待宰蛋鸡在寒冷的冬季月份 1 月（0.717%）和 12 月（0.695%）死亡；相反，8 月的死亡率最低（0.364%）。根据运输距离比较运输相关死亡率时也发现了差异。运输距离不超过 50 公里的母鸡死亡率最低（0.338%）；较长的距离与死亡率的增加有关（P<0.05），距离在 201 至 300 公里之间的死亡率最高（0.801%）。这些发现证明，在冬季较低的外部运输温度下，特别是在 0°C 以下时（例如，在运输工具中进行适当的温度调节），需要更加关注待宰蛋鸡的运输，并且需要更加关注运输距离较长的母鸡（如果无法减少运输距离）。
