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Title: ANTE AND POSTMORTEM FEATHER RETENTION FORCE IN BROILERS FOLLOWING ELECTRICAL STUNNING

Author
item BUHR, R - UNIV OF GEORGIA
item ROWLAND, G. - UNIV OF GEORGIA
item CASON JR, JOHN

Submitted to: Journal Of Poultry Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/22/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Stunning and slaughter trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of electrical stunning, bleed-out orientation (inverted or supine), and spinal cord transection on feather retention force (FRF) in commercial broilers. The pectoral, sternal, and femoral feather tracts were sampled with a force gauge before and after stunning for broilers on a shackle or table. Broilers were stunned head to shanks with a brine stunner (30 mA, 50 V AC for 10 s) and bled on either a shackle or table. The cervical spinal cord and column were transected immediately following stunning. Electrical stunning, when not followed by bleeding, resulted in a 5 percentage reduction in FRF. Bleeding after stunning resulted in a 16 percentage increase in FRF. Severing the spinal cord immediately after stunning resulted in a 6 percentage increase in FRF. Broilers on shackles had higher FRF values than broilers on a table before and after stunning. No treatment differences were detected among the three feather tracts. Death associated with stunning and bleed-out results in increased FRF and the spinal cord mediates this antemortem change. Depressing spinal cord integration may result in lower FRF and improve postmortem defeathering efficiency. KEY WORDS: Feather retention force, electrical stunning, slaughter orientation, spinal cord, broilers