Investigating the relationship between temperature and humidity conditions and broiler welfare in modified trailers during transport

加拿大食品检验局(CFIA)是监督食品安全和动物的监管机构 屠宰场的福利标准。在肉鸡业(肉鸡)中，不能存活的禽类 运往工厂的货物被称为货到即损或DOA。为了确保鸟类福利标准， CFIA为肉鸡设定了每卡车1%的DOA限制。如果在一次死亡时间内到达死亡时间的鸟类部分 超过这一限制的，经调查后可处以罚款，罚款金额为 取决于违规的严重程度。在整个加拿大，环境条件变得更加具有挑战性 在冬季的几个月运输肉鸡，DOA比率在11月至3月期间趋于上升。 以前的研究工作已经证明了负载内的温度和湿度不均匀 两个参数都达到了极值。通常在冬季运输期间，冷点存在于飞机的外部和后部附近。 拖车，热点出现在拖车的中间核心附近。假设热点是 造成这一现象的原因是空气对负载的穿透力有限以及缺乏足够的通风。普遍缺乏通风 被认为是高湿度的原因，导致在寒冷的表面和 由此产生的湿润的鸟类，在较冷的环境中进一步挑战保持其核心体温 条件。萨斯喀彻温省经历的典型冬季条件和运输肉鸡的需要 一年四季的鸡代表着一种挑战。一般的目标将是从内部去除水分 加载，理想情况下，重新分配热量。这项研究的目的是将现有的运输拖车改装为 促进更多的空气交换。拖车将配备数据记录器来记录温度和湿度 在从农场到工厂的运输过程中的水平。改装后的拖车将与 比较一下传统的拖车。此外，鸟类的反应将通过测量变化来监测 将观察鸟的核心体温和卡车内死鸟的分布。

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is the regulating body that oversees food safety and animal welfare standards in slaughter plants. In the broiler industry (meat chickens), birds that do not survive transportation to the plant are referred to as Dead on Arrival or DOA. In order to ensure bird welfare standards, CFIA has set a 1% DOA limit per truck for broiler chickens. If the portion of birds arriving DOA in a single truck exceeds this limit, fines can be imposed following an investigation, with the amount of the fine being dependent on the severity of the infraction. Across Canada, ambient conditions become much more challenging to transport broiler chickens during winter months, and DOA rates tend to rise during November to March. Previous research work has demonstrated temperature and humidity heterogeneity within the loads with extremes in both parameters. Typically during winter transport, cold spots exist near the outsides and rear of the trailer, and hot spots present near the middle core of the trailer. The hypothesis is that the hot spots are caused by limited air penetration into the load and a lack of sufficient ventilation. A general lack of ventilation is believed to be the cause of high humidity levels, leading to condensation forming on cold surfaces and resultant wet birds, which are further challenged to maintain their core body temperature during colder ambient conditions. The typical winter conditions experienced in Saskatchewan and the need to transport broiler chickens year round represent a challenge. The general objective would be to remove moisture from within the load and, ideally, redistribute the heat. The objective of this study is to retrofit existing transportation trailers to facilitate more air exchange. Trailers will be outfitted with data loggers to record the temperature and humidity levels during the duration of transport from the farm to the plant. Retrofitted trailers will be run alongside traditional trailers for comparison. Additionally, bird response will be monitored by measuring the changes in bird core body temperatures, and distributions of dead birds within the trucks will be observed.