Smith Kristofer C, Pierdon Meghann K
Clinical Studies, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Kennett Square, PA, USA.
J Appl Anim Welf Sci. 2025 Apr-Jun;28(2):222-229. doi: 10.1080/10888705.2023.2254226. Epub 2023 Sep 1.
This study evaluated manual and mechanical catching methods on slower growing broiler chickens on the day of processing. Ten catching events, five mechanical and five manual, were evaluated for animal welfare and an additional set of 241 catches, 128 manual and 113 machine, were analyzed to determine the effect on carcass quality. No significant difference in serum corticosterone concentration (CORT) was found between the catching methods ( = 0.9). Pre-catching CORT (15.07 ± 2.24) was significantly lower than post-catching (25.41 ± 2.22) ( < 0.001). Manually caught broilers had four times greater odds of tonic immobility (TI) than mechanically caught birds (OR 4.0, 95% CI: 1.54-10.54) ( < 0.001). Birds also had 77% lower odds of TI before being caught than after, irrespective of catching method. Manually caught birds had 19% greater risk of bruised wings ( < 0.05) and 23% greater risk of bruised legs ( < 0.05). Lower odds of TI and decreased risk of injury in the machine caught birds indicate improved welfare and carcass quality compared with manual catching. Overall, machine catching was found to improve welfare and carcass quality in these slower growing broilers.
本研究评估了在加工日对生长较慢的肉鸡采用人工抓捕和机械抓捕方法的情况。对10次抓捕事件（5次机械抓捕和5次人工抓捕）进行了动物福利评估，并对另外一组241次抓捕（128次人工抓捕和113次机械抓捕）进行了分析，以确定对胴体品质的影响。两种抓捕方法之间血清皮质酮浓度（CORT）无显著差异（=0.9）。抓捕前的CORT（15.07±2.24）显著低于抓捕后（25.41±2.22）（<0.001）。人工抓捕的肉鸡出现强直静止（TI）的几率是机械抓捕肉鸡的4倍（比值比4.0，95%置信区间：1.54 - 10.54）（<0.001）。无论抓捕方法如何，鸡在被抓捕前出现TI的几率也比抓捕后低77%。人工抓捕的鸡翅膀瘀伤风险高19%（<0.05），腿部瘀伤风险高23%（<0.05）。与人工抓捕相比，机械抓捕的鸡出现TI的几率较低且受伤风险降低，这表明其福利和胴体品质得到了改善。总体而言，发现机械抓捕可改善这些生长较慢的肉鸡的福利和胴体品质。
