Animal Nutrition and Welfare Service, Department of Animal and Food Science, Facultat de Veterinaria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra E-08193, Barcelona, Spain.
Animal Nutrition and Welfare Service, Department of Animal and Food Science, Facultat de Veterinaria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra E-08193, Barcelona, Spain.
Poult Sci. 2021 Jan;100(1):129-137. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2020.10.003. Epub 2020 Oct 10.
The present study had 2 objectives: the first was to analyze the possible impact of transport on weight loss and mortality during transport, and first-week mortality. The second was to monitor the environmental condition (i.e., temperature, humidity, and so on) variability during transport with an effect on day-old chicks. Probe equipment was installed in a truck of a poultry company from Spain, including a total of 66 journeys made in commercial conditions between May and November 2017. Animal-based measures collected included BW (before and after transport), mortality during transport, mortality during the first week of life, which were contrasted against a series of environmental variables including air temperature, RH, and carbon dioxide (CO) atmospheric concentration for every journey, number of day-old chicks (%) per journey, transport duration (h), zones inside the loading area (zone 1, near to the cabin; zone 2, in the central point; and zone 3, close to the back doors), height (1, top; 2, medium; and 3, bottom), mo (May to November), number of stops, type of stop during journey (farm stops and driver stops), time to start the journey, as well as other intrinsic factors of chicks (gender, breed [Ross and Cobb], breeder flock age [wk] and egg storage day). Because the database included random factors, longitudinal data, and repeated measures, a multivariate model was used to analyze the data. The results showed that chick weight loss was positively associated with journey duration and RH. No effect of environmental variables was found on mortality during transport. However, chick mortality during the first week of life was related with the percentage of day-old chicks loaded per journey and chick gender. In conclusion, owing to the environmental heterogeneity during transport and the effect of the environment on chick weight during transport and mortality at first week of life, there is an urgent need to refine the air-conditioning and ventilation systems of day-old chick transport toward a greater environmental homogeneity.
一是分析运输对运输过程中及运输后雏鸡体重减轻和死亡率、运输后第一周死亡率的可能影响。二是监测在运输过程中对雏鸡产生影响的环境条件（即温度、湿度等）变化。在西班牙一家家禽公司的卡车上安装了探测设备，共进行了 66 次商业条件下的运输，时间为 2017 年 5 月至 11 月。收集的动物指标包括运输前后的体重（BW）、运输过程中的死亡率、运输后第一周的死亡率，与每一次运输的一系列环境变量（包括空气温度、相对湿度和二氧化碳（CO）大气浓度）、每一次运输的雏鸡数量（%）、运输时间（h）、装载区的区域（靠近驾驶室的区域 1、位于中间的区域 2 和靠近后门的区域 3）、高度（1、顶部；2、中部；3、底部）、运输月份（5 月至 11 月）、停车次数、运输过程中的停车类型（农场停车和司机停车）、开始运输的时间以及雏鸡的其他内在因素（性别、品种[罗斯和考布]、种鸡群年龄[周]和蛋的储存天数）相对比。由于数据库中包含随机因素、纵向数据和重复测量，因此使用多变量模型来分析数据。结果表明，雏鸡体重减轻与运输时间和相对湿度呈正相关。未发现环境变量对运输过程中的死亡率有影响。然而，运输后第一周雏鸡死亡率与每次运输装载的雏鸡数量和雏鸡性别有关。综上所述，由于运输过程中的环境异质性以及环境对运输过程中雏鸡体重减轻和运输后第一周死亡率的影响，迫切需要改进雏鸡运输的空调和通风系统，以实现更大的环境均匀性。
