Engineering, animal welfare, and meat quality considerations of broiler transportation in a heated and ventilated vehicle

运输是一个重要的过程，肉鸡必须从广泛分散的农场转移到一个集中的屠宰设施。在运输过程中，鸟类暴露在许多潜在的压力源中，温度和相对湿度的影响尤为重要。我们小组先前进行的研究发现，加拿大冬季的运输导致商业家禽拖车上同时出现极端寒冷和热点。我们提出的项目的重点是确定运输环境条件（温度和相对湿度）对肉鸡福利和肉品质的影响，并收集有关工程改进运输车辆的信息。我们的研究项目将主要解决较冷的气候问题，实验将在商业和实验室环境中进行。我们的项目旨在测试改善交通条件的3个假设好处：降低死亡率，改善鸟类福利，改善肉类质量。这项工作的结果将有助于该行业响应监管和社会对确保动物福利的要求，创造一个基于卓越品质和形象的加拿大产品品牌的机会。拟议中的项目还将为政府机构提供重要的科学数据，以更新当前的动物福利指导方针和法规。该项目将有助于制定新的评估方法和协议，以评估运输对动物福利和肉类质量的影响。有关寒冷天气动物运输的重要数据也将提供给科学界。该项目由萨斯喀彻温大学的Trever Crowe博士（工程）、Henry Classen博士（家禽科学）和Phyllis Shand博士（肉类科学）领导。我们研究团队的多学科背景使我们能够采用综合方法来应对这一研究挑战。由于以往的研究主要集中在温和至炎热的环境条件下，拟议的项目将为寒冷气候运输对鸟类福利和肉类品质的影响提供急需的信息。

Transportation is an essential process where broiler chickens must be transferred from widely dispersed farms to a central slaughtering facility. In transit, birds are exposed to many potential stressors, with effects of temperature and relative humidity of particular significance. Previous research conducted by our group discovered transport during Canadian winters resulted in both extreme cold and hot spots occurring concomitantly on commercial poultry trailers. The focus of our proposed project is to determine the effects of transport environmental conditions (temperature and relative humidity) on the welfare and meat quality of broiler chickens, and to collect information relative to engineering improved transport vehicles. Our research project will mainly address colder climate issues and experiments will be conducted in both commercial and laboratory settings. Our project is designed to test 3 hypothesized benefits of better transportation conditions: decreased mortality, improved bird welfare, and improved meat quality. The results of this work will assist the industry in responding to regulatory and societal demands for assured animal welfare, creating an opportunity to brand a Canadian product based on exceptional quality and image. The proposed project will also provide governmental agencies with important scientific data to update current animal welfare guidelines and regulations. This project will help to develop new assessment methods and protocols for evaluating the effects of transportation on animal welfare and meat quality. Important data relative to cold weather animal transport will also be available for the scientific community.      This project is led by Dr. Trever Crowe (engineering), Dr. Henry Classen (poultry science) and Dr. Phyllis Shand (meat science) of the University of Saskatchewan. The multi-disciplinary background of our research team allows an integrated approach to this research challenge. With previous research focused mostly on mild to hot ambient conditions, the proposed project would provide much needed information on the impacts of cold climatic transport on bird welfare and meat quality.