Reducing poultry processing waste maximizes yield, profits

Learn how to identify, from pre-slaughter to packing, activities where poultry processing waste is likely to occur and impact a plant’s bottom line.

Insufficient ventilation during transport to the processing plant will increase the number of dead-on-arrival birds. | Eduardo Cervantes López
Insufficient ventilation during transport to the processing plant will increase the number of dead-on-arrival birds. | Eduardo Cervantes López

Following waste reduction strategies during poultry processing not only helps to maximize the volume of processed poultry produced and better respond to growing demand, but can increase profitability while lessening the impact on the earth’s finite resources.

From pre-slaughter to packing, there are several activities where waste is likely to occur. Paying particular attention to these key areas, ranging from minimizing harm to broilers during harvesting to the proper training of plant staff, can help to ensure that poultry processing is carried out in the most profitable and sustainable way possible.

Pre-slaughter

A failure to properly manage the feed withdrawal period can lead to downgraded and rejected product at the processing plant. Common problems resulting from a badly managed feed withdrawal include weight loss and carcass contamination.

To minimize rejects and waste, birds must have sufficient access to water preslaughter, for example, and harvesting must take place within four hours of suspending feed supply. Typical issues that may be apparent due to badly managed feed withdrawal include a full crop, dehydrated intestines, a dilated gallbladder, shrunken liver, a hardened gizzard cuticle and weight loss.

Harvesting and cages

Poor handling and any resultant harm to broilers during capture and caging can lead to poor-quality carcasses, raising the number of rejects. However, there are several best practices that can be followed to minimize quality issues.

Any birds separated from the rest of the flock during harvesting must be allowed sufficient space. If crowded together, birds will start to fight for space, scratching and pecking each other, and damaged skin can lead to rejected carcasses.

Birds should always be captured by the body, holding the wings close to it, but without putting too much pressure on the abdominal air sacs. Studies have shown that, in flocks where broilers are caught by the body, the number of rejected birds is 50 percent lower compared with birds caught by the legs.

Cages and containers must be in good condition and of an appropriate size, ensuring that not only are broilers not harmed, but are also comfortable during transport and while waiting at the processing plant.

Filled cages should be kept inside the poultry house until all are ready to be loaded. In this way, maximum advantage will be taken of circulating air, minimizing possible suffocations.

Transportation to the processing plant

To avoid mortalities during transport, measures must be taken to dissipate evaporative heat.

Depending on environmental conditions, fans can be placed at the end opposite to where birds are loaded, to help to keep them cool and supply them with air. Additionally, a mobile awning can be erected where birds are loaded. If made from mesh, this can reduce light penetration but still allow air flow.

The microclimate within the truck needs to be carefully monitored if dead on arrivals are to be prevented.

It should not be assumed that if the birds that reach the lairage alive they will also reach the overhead hangers alive. In many plants, it can take up to four hours from arrival to complete processing, so the lairage must be properly ventilated to prevent suffocation while birds wait to be slaughtered.

A failure to address the above points will increase the number of dead-on-arrival birds and reduce the volume of Grade A meat produced.

Hanging

The area where live birds are handled at the processing plant should be darkened and illuminated with red, green or blue light to keep them calm and prevent stress.

Workers must handle birds carefully as, for example, excess pressure on the legs can result in bruises or reddening appearing further along the processing line, and these roughly handled birds may be rejected by quality control inspectors.

Entrance to the stunner

A poorly adjusted breast stunner will lead to birds flapping their wings intensely, resulting in bruises and trauma of the breast and wings. Additionally, blood will accumulate in the pectoral muscles due to the heart sending more blood to keep them oxygenated, possibly leading to downgrades.

Too much time in transit between being hung and slaughtered will also result in more blood flowing to the wings due to the forces of gravity.

Excess blood may also be present in the wings if bleed time is not properly adjusted to reflect hanging time, and again the number of rejects will rise.

Stunning, slaughter and bleed out

A failure to properly place birds in shackles can also lead to poor stunning, and birds may reach the automatic killing system still conscious. This will increase the workload of those responsible for guaranteeing that all birds entering the bleed-out tunnel are dead. If the automatic killer is only partially successful, then there may still be an accumulation of blood in the neck, another cause of rejects. Any birds that enter the scalder still alive will take on a reddish color

Scalding and plucking

If birds are observed floating in the scalder, or the movement of the water is uneven, problems and losses will occur at plucking. The same will occur if the heat gained by the carcass is lost on the way to the plucker.

If birds pass through the plucker at low temperatures, the damage to carcasses can range from minor to major, including skin loss and bone dislocation, due to the greater pressure needed to remove the feathers. Birds damaged in this way will be rejected by quality control.

Poorly Agitated Scalder 2

Poorly agitated water during scalding will make plucking harder, and this can result in carcass damage. | Eduardo Cervantes López

Evisceration

It is at evisceration that the consequences of a poorly managed feed withdrawal can often lead to waste. Carcasses may become contaminated with feed or fecal matter or the carcass may be contaminated with bile.

Bile Staining Carcass Reject 3

The impact of poor feed withdrawal can become apparent during evisceration. | Eduardo Cervantes López

Carcasses contaminated in this way will have to go to reprocessing and examined to see if they can be reintegrated into meat fit for human consumption.

Energy

Processing plants tend to start all machines at the same time at the start of the shift, despite the fact that 15 minutes may elapse between the first birds being hung on the line and reaching the final part of the process. Any machines that are working, but are yet to receive carcasses, will be wasting electricity, and machine start times should be reviewed in developing any waste reduction program.

Water and ice

Water is too often used without care in the plant’s various processes and when losses from hoses and valves are considered, then waste can be significant.

In plants that use ice to cool carcasses, it may again be used to liberally, resulting in waste. If the pipes or channels that supply ice are poorly maintained, ice may be lost onto the floor, and if ice is poorly stored it may melt before it can be used.

Packaging

Packaging needs to be managed properly to avoid waste. It is also worth using good quality packaging to avoid breakages and need for replacement.

Processing plant staff

If plants are not ergonomically designed, additional staff will be needed to complete tasks. This will also be the case if equipment and working practices are not suitable for the task at hand. Additional staff costs will increase the cost per kilo of processed meat, and can be an expensive waste of resources.

 

Successful poultry processors identify challenges, benefits

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