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By Eduardo Cervantes Lopez, International processing consultant, Barranquilla, Colombia
In the broiler industry, three systems to catch birds have traditionally been used. These methods are classified depending on the part of the chicken’s body. By far the most popular method of catching chickens is grabbing by the legs. People wrongly believe this is the fastest method for capturing, but in fact it produces the highest percentage of downgrading. The birds are caught by a leg and they are held in groups of up to five in one hand, depending on the chicken’s weight and environmental conditions.When the worker has captured the required number of birds, he walks (or sometimes runs) to the truck. The birds are then either put into crates or they are handed over to another worker. The second worker (firmly) grabs the chicken by the leg/thigh joint, which immediately causes some bruising. This quality defect is evident after de-feathering in the form of a red circular mark on the skin caused by the excess pressure in the grip. After freezing, this red mark becomes darker and unpleasant for customers. Additionally, grabbing the birds by the leg and rotating the hip joint 180 degrees, causes physical damage.
The femur head, which is welded to the hip, is detached. In this case, the bone descends and might occasionally break some of the abdominal sacs. This can interfere with the respiratory and circulatory system, which may cause internal haemorrhages in the inner thigh area.
While being grabbed by a leg, birds will attempt to escape. They flap incessantly and might hurt their wings. Moreover, if during transportation to the crates area, chickens hit against other elements such as feeders, drinkers, doors, etcetera, additional injuries may occur.
Downgrading is not the only negative impact: this capture method demands greater effort from the workers. They might try to finish as fast as possible, thus not taking enough care of the task they are performing. The quicker they can load the truck the sooner they can get some extra rest, before the next truck arrives. The capture operation then becomes a race against time.
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Source: World Poultry, volume 27, no. 1, 2011
