Einfluss der Betäubung auf die Fleischbeschaffenheit bei Broilern und Puten

Abstract

Stunning of animals is an essential procedure before cutting the carotid artery for killing in the slaughter process. In the poultry industry, the stunning is done either by gas (carbon dioxide - oxygen - air mixture) or by electricity. Both types of stunning have their advantages and disadvantages. In the present study, the effect of stunning (gas or electricity) on selected parameters of the meat quality of the breast muscle of broilers and turkeys was analysed. In both species, the results show that stunning has no effect on pH values or early post mortem electrical conductivity. In broilers, stunning did not affect brightness or redness of the meat. But in turkey, the lightness of the meat surface was different between both stunning groups. The number of visible petechia differed between the two ways of stunning. The different types of stunning had negative consequences in both kinds of poultry, electrical stunning in turkeys and stunning with gas in broilers, in regard to petechial hemorrhaging. These differences indicate that the reaction to stunning is not similar in both species.