Content area
Full Text
There are several phases during harvesting and processing where broilers are likely to flap their wings and potentially affect the quality of the final processed carcass. Paying particular attention during these operations, however, can help to maximize the volumes of Grade A processed chicken.
Harvesting
Broilers will react to the behavior of the harvesting team. Birds tend to move around the poultry house slowly, and so the catching team should do so in the same way.
A failure to do so will result in birds panicking and rushing toward the side walls. This panic sees them take short flights and jump on top of each other. This may not only result in scratching but also suffocation and death.
When birds take these short flights, the large pectoral muscle responsible for moving the wings is stressed more than the minor muscle, given that the latter is not fully extended. This exerts pressure on the blood vessels and they may break, with the escaping blood resulting in a bruise.
Some veins may simply be weakened. The impact of this on breast meat quality may not be immediately apparent; however, this weakening of the vessels may have consequences during processing.
When birds are stunned, some of the weakened blood vessels will burst, in the same way that some of the fragile bones in the thorax may also break. When this occurs...