Summary

The proposal is for a series of one-day workshops for the poultry industry. These are designed to be delivered in five locations across Australia.
The primary purpose of the workshops is to improve the understanding of commercial poultry stunning and slaughter systems, as they impact on welfare outcomes and product quality. The format of the workshop will include demonstration and video material to ensure that the content is practically relevant to different commercial poultry systems. The training is targeted at Team Leaders and QA personnel, with responsibilities for managing and monitoring the stunning and slaughter process. It will cover both electrical and controlled atmosphere stunning and deliver information on how operatives can interpret equipment parameters and optimise their systems.
The workshops will address:
• Current regulatory requirements (Australia, overseas (where applicable) and customer/certification requirements (eg. RSPCA)
• Current research into stunning and slaughter practices and the implications for the industry now and in the future
• Stunning and slaughter parameters and the impact on welfare and quality
• Techniques for improving animal welfare outcomes and product quality, whilst using existing systems
• Future equipment and system approaches and the benefits that they may have for the industry
The workshops will be delivered by Dr Leisha Hewitt, Adjunct Lecturer, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, Adelaide University. MINTRAC will be responsible for advertising and promotion, coordination and organisation of venues and workshop arrangements; collation and reporting of workshop outcomes.

Program

Chicken Meat

Research Organisation

Mintrac

Objective Summary

The major objectives of the project are to:
• improve an understanding of the equipment and the selection of the correct parameters for effective stunning
• improve effectiveness of stunning and slaughter practices in Australia
• improve animal welfare outcomes during stunning and slaughter
• to raise awareness of current research and international trends in poultry stunning and slaughter practices