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Journal of Animal Science and Technology
Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology

J Anim Sci Technol

pISSN: 2055-0391, eISSN: 2672-0191

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2023.e132

Article

Effect of crating density and weather conditions during transit on preslaughter losses, physiological characteristics, and meat quality in broilers

Myunghwan Yu1, Elijah Ogola Oketch1, Nuwan Chamara Chathuranga1, Shan Randima Nawarathne1, Jun Seon Hong1, Venuste Maniraguha1, Bernadette Sta. Cruz1, Eunsoo Seo1, Jeseok Lee1, Haeeun Park1, Jung Min Heo1,*
1Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea.
*Corresponding Author: Jung Min Heo, Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea, Republic of. E-mail: jmheo@cnu.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2023 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Oct 25, 2023; Revised: Nov 27, 2023; Accepted: Nov 29, 2023

Published Online: Nov 29, 2023

Abstract

The impact of crating density and prevailing weather conditions during transit on preslaughter losses, physiological characteristics, and meat quality in broilers was investigated. A total of 900 35-day-old Ross 308 male broilers with an average body weight of 1,860 ± 17.458 g (mean ± SEM) in summer and 1,864 ± 17.454 g in winter were allotted to one of six groups arranged in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement according to the three different crating densities (low: 0.039 m<sup>2</sup>/bird; medium: 0.031 m<sup>2</sup>/bird; high: 0.026 m<sup>2</sup>/bird) and two different weather conditions (low: -1 ℃ and high: 30 ℃). Birds stocked at medium density recorded lower (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05) body weight loss compared to the low density group; and demonstrated higher (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05) lactate levels along with lower (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.05) respiration rates when compared to the high crating density group. Extreme conditions of low crating density under low air temperature and high crating density under high air temperature led to higher (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.001) body weight loss and glucose concentration compared to low crating density under high air temperature. In conclusion, both excessively high and low crating densities are not conducive to reducing preslaughter losses and blood stress indicators. Broiler transportation under high crating density in low air temperatures and low crating density in high air temperatures is recommended.

Keywords: broiler; crating density; stress; transportation; weather; welfare