Reducing poultry preslaughter losses: crating density effects under different lairage periods at slaughterhouse

The aim of this work was to assess the effects of densities per crate on preslaughter mortality of broiler chickens, under different lairage time intervals. Preslaughter data from 13,937 broiler flocks were recorded daily during 2006, in a commercial slaughterhouse in southeastern Brazil. The main factors which influenced mortality rates were assessed, such as density per crate, daily periods and lairage time in a environmental controlled lairage. For densities above 7 birds per crate, it was observed a rise in mortality rates, mainly during the warm periods. During night, the highest incidence of death losses was observed when the adopted density was below 6 birds. Considered a controlled lairage environment, the desirable lairage time for death reduction before arrival at the slaughterhouse was above 3 hours for higher densities and below 1 hour for densities below 7 birds per crate.