Broken bones in chickens: Effect of stunning and processing in broilers

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Abstract
1. Broilers and broiler carcases, sampled immediately before the stunner, at the end of the processing line and from a supermarket company, were physically dissected to determine the incidence of broken bones. 2. Over 95% of the frozen broilers from the supermarket company had broken bones and there were between 3 and 4 breaks per carcase. Only 3% of live birds had broken bones so most of the carcase damage must have been caused by processing. 3. The effect of 100, 200 and 300 V electrical stunning on the incidence of broken bones was investigated: increasing voltage resulted in an increase in the incidence of broken bones in the collar region.