Effect of environmental variables in death on arrival in broiler chickens at the slaughterhouse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33064/iycuaa2026978516Keywords:
THI, heat stress, animal welfare, chickens, poultry productionAbstract
Several factors influence the dead-on-arrival (DOA) of broiler chickens at the processing plant. To determine the effect of the combination of environmental factors on DOA by category (light and heavy-weight broilers) and time of day (morning 00:00 to 11:59; afternoon 12:00 to 23:59), a cross-sectional association study was conducted during the fall in an extreme subhumid warm climate. Ambient temperature, relative humidity, Temperature and Humidity Index (THI), and waiting time were recorded. The frequency of DOA by production category was similar (0.15%; P>0.05). In the morning, the birds were in thermal comfort (THI 27.0) vs. thermal emergency in the afternoon (THI 36.0). Waiting times exceeding 121 minutes increased DOA in light-weight broilers (0.20%; P=0.003). The highest frequency of DOA occurs in conditions of severe and thermal emergencies (0.16%; P<0.005).
Downloads
References
• Abidin, Z.Z., Sulaiman, N.F.A., Ramiah, S.K., Awad, E.A., & Idrus Z. (2022). The effect of water shower spray on stress physiology and mortality in broiler chickens subjected to road transportation under the hot and humid tropical condition. Tropical Animal Health Production. 54, 354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-022-03360-y
• Allen, S.E., Parker, C.D., Verheyen, K.L.P., Nicol, C.J., & Chang, Y.M. (2023). Effects of external ambient temperature at loading, journey duration and flock characteristics on the dead on-arrival rate in broiler chickens transported to slaughter in Great Britain. Poultry Science.102 (6):102634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.102634.
• Averós, X., Balderas, B., Cameño, E., & Estévez, I. (2020). The value of a retrospective analysis of slaughter records for the welfare of broiler chickens. Poultry Science. 99: 5222–5232 DOI:10.1016/j.psj.2020.08.026
• Bohler, M.W., Chowdhury, V.S. Cline, M.A. & Gilbert, E.R. (2021). Heat stress responses in birds: A review of the neural components. Biology (Basel). 25:10(11):1095. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology10111095.
• Castañeda, M.S., Braña, D.V., Delgado, E.S., Tejeda, R.G., Vázquez, A.D., & Martínez, W.V. (2013). Embarque de aves programa de ayuno y captura. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales Agrícolas y Pecuarias. ISBN 978-607-37-0056-6.
• COMERCANE. (2025). Consejo Mexicano de la Carne. Compendio Estadístico 2025. Disponible en www.comecarne.org
• Gickel, J., Visscher, C., Kemper, N., & Spindler, B. (2024). Analysis of the broiler chicken dead-on-arrival (DOA) rate in relation to normal transport conditions in practice in Germany. Animals. 14, 1947. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14131947
• Haslam, S. M., Knowles, T. G., Brown, S. N., Wilkins, L. J., Kestin, S. C., Warriss, P. D., & Nicol, C. J. (2008). Prevalence and factors associated with it, of birds dead on arrival at the slaughterhouse and other rejection conditions in broiler chickens. British Poultry Science, 49(6), 685–696. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071660802433719
• INEGI. (2022). Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. 2022. Aspectos geográficos de Sinaloa. Documento disponible en: https://www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/productos/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/nueva_estruc/889463913306.pdf
• Jacobs, L., Delezie, E., Duchateau, L., Goethals, K., & Tuyttens F. (2017). Impact of the separate pre-slaughter stages on broiler chicken welfare. Poultry Science. 96 (2):266-273. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pew361.
• Jainonthee, C., Sanwisate, P., Sivapirunthep, P., Chaosap, C., Pichpol, D., Mektrirat, R., Chadsuthi, S., & Punyapornwithaya, V. (2025). Predicting and explaining high dead-on-arrival outcomes in meat-type ducks using deep learning: A path to improved welfare management. Poultry Science. 104:9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2025.105439.
• Lallo, C.H.O., Cohen, J., Rankine, D., Taylor, M., Campbell, J., & Stephenson, T. (2018). Characterizing heat stress on livestock using the temperature humidity index (THI) prospects for a warmer Caribbean. Regional Environmental Change. 18:2329–2340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-018-1359-x
• Lourençoni, D., Yanagi Junior, T., de Abreu, P.G., Campos, A.T., & Yanagi, S.N.M. (2019). Productive responses from broiler chickens raised in different commercial production systems – part i: fuzzy modeling. Engenharia Agrícola Jaboticabal. 39 (1):1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1809-4430-Eng.Agric.v39n1p1-10/2019
• Oluwagbenga, E.M., & Fraley, G.S. (2023). Heat stress and poultry production: a comprehensive review. Poultry Science. 102:103141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.103141
• Omomowo, O.O., & Falayi, F.R. (2021). Temperature-humidity index and thermal comfort of broilers in humid tropics. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal. 23 (3):101-110. http://www.cigrjournal.org
• Onagbesan, O.M., Uyanga, V.A., Oso, O., Tona, K., & Oke, O.E. (2023). Alleviating heat stress effects in poultry: updates on methods and mechanisms of actions. Frontier in Veterinary Science. 10:1255520. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1255520
• Pirompud, P., Sivapirunthep, P., Punyapornwithaya, V., & Chaosap, C. (2023). Preslaughter handling factors affecting dead on arrival, condemnations, and bruising in broiler chickens raised without an antibiotic program. Poultry Science. 102:(8) 102828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.102828.
• SAGARPA. (1994). Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación. NOM-009-ZOO-1994. Proceso sanitario de la carne Publicada en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el 16 de noviembre de 1994. Documento disponible en: https://www.gob.mx/senasica/documentos/nom-009-zoo-1994
• SAGARPA. (1995). Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación. NOM-051-ZOO-1995. Transporte humanitario en la movilización de animales. Publicada en el Diario Oficial de la Federación el 23 de marzo de 1998. Documento disponible en: https://www.gob.mx/senasica/documentos/nom-051-zoo-1995
• SADER. (2025). Secretaría de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural. Panorama Agroalimentario 2025. Dirección General del Servicio de Información Agroalimentaria y Pesquera. Disponible en: www.sader.gob.mx/agricultura/dgsiap
• Saraiva, S., Esteves, A., Oliveira, I., Mitchell, M., & Stilwell, G. (2020). Impact of pre-slaughter factors on welfare of broilers. Veterinary and Animal Science. 10:100146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vas.2020.100146
• SAS Institute. (2002). Statistical Analysis Software. SAS/STAT System for Windows 9.0. Cary, NC, USA. SAS Institute Inc. ISBN: 978-1-60764-599-3. http://www.sas.com/en_us/software/analytics/stat.html#
• Vecerek, V., Grbalova, S., Voslarova, E., Janackova, B., & Malena, M. (2006). Effects of travel distance and the season of the year on death rates of broilers transported to poultry processing plants. Poultry Science. 85:1881–1884. https://doi.org/10.1093/ps/85.11.1881
• Vieira, F.M.C., Portugal, M.A.G., de Borba, L.P., Angrecka, S., Herbut, P., Jongbo, A.O., De-Sousa, K.T., & Deniz, M. (2024). Poultry preslaughter operations in hot environments: The present knowledge and the next steps forward. Animals. 14:2865. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14192865
• Warris, P. D., Bevis, E. A., Brown, S. N., & Edwards, J. E. (1992). Longer journeys to processing plants are associated with higher mortality in broiler chickens. British Poultry Science, 33(1), 201–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071669208417458
• Yu, M., Oketch, E.O., Chathuranga, N.C., Nawarathne, S.R., Hong, J.S., Maniraguha, V., Cruz, B.G.S., Seo, E, Lee, J., Park, H., & Heo, J.M. (2024). Effect of crating density and weather conditions during transit on preslaughter losses, physiological characteristics, and meat quality in broilers. Journal of Animal Science and Technology. 66(6):1170-1181. https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2023.e132
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Lizbeth Alejandra Medina-Mendoza, Yesica Janeth Arteaga-Wences, Jesús José Portillo-Loera, Adriana Cervantes-Noriega, Ana Mireya Romo-Valdez, Francisco Gerardo Ríos-Rincón
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Las obras publicadas en versión electrónica de la revista están bajo la licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
