The Effect of Ambient Temperature on The Death Rate, Reject Rate, Dressing Percentage, and Economic Loss in Broilers During Transport to Slaughterhouse

Abstract

The process of transporting broilers from the farm to the slaughterhouse is critical for animal welfare and for the production economy. The present study aimed to assess the impact of ambient temperature on the death rate, reject rate, and total economic loss in broilers during transportations in Turkey. The data of a total of 1,015,336 broilers transported for a two-year period were collected from a commercial abattoir. The average ambient temperature of the exact days of consignments was divided into three subgroups: Temperature (T), T1 (10.0-14.0 ℃), T2 (14.1-19.0 ℃), T3 (19.1-24.0 ℃). The average death rates were 1.89%, 1.39%, 0.32%, and reject rates were 1.15%, 1.61%, and 1.44% found for T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Analysis of data showed the significant (p