Humane mechanical methods for killing poultry - designing four mechanical devices and testing their efficacy on cadavers

摘要

The killing of poultry on farm has traditionally been performed with manual cervical dislocation. Poultry may need to be killed on-farm for three reasons: (1) to prevent further suffering, (2) for disease control purposes or (3) for "farm-gate" type sales. With average mortality rates ranging from 1-15% and 50 billion chickens being annually reared worldwide, it could be estimated that 500 million to 7.5 billion chickens may need to be killed on farm. In the light of research that has suggested thatsome animals (including poultry) may be conscious for a significant period of time post-application of manual cervical dislocation (Cartner, Barlow, & Ness, 2007; Erasmus, Lawlis, Duncan, & Widowski, 2010; Gregory & Wotton, 1990), and the restrictions being applied to its use (e.g. <70 birds/ person/d and a <3 kg bird weight limit), as of 2013 by the European Union (EC1099/2009), the need for an alternative practical mechanical method is required by both the industry and hobby/small-scale poultry keepers. This study is the first part of a four-stage project to design alternative mechanical methods for killing poultry on farm, which conform to the new legislation.