Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

There are many issues facing the broiler industry when transporting broilers during the cold Canadian winters. One of those issues is the transport of broilers with damp or wet feathers. It is thought that the insulative value of the feathers is decreased when the feathers become wet, thus making the broilers more vulnerable to cold exposure. However, the issue of feather wetness is complex; there are large variations in the amount of moisture held within the feathers. The response is also thought to be dependent upon the ambient temperature, as the ambient temperature can influence the temperature experienced by broilers during transport. Therefore, the objective of this experiment is to develop a method of assessing the amount of moisture held within the feathers of broilers prior to shipping. This research will be pivotal in the next phase of research, which will develop guidelines that the broiler industry can use to determine if the birds can be safely transported. The moisture held within the feathers will be assessed using moisture sensing devices that are commercially available but used to detect moisture in other materials (i.e. bales of hay, leaves, wood). The initial testing will be conducted on a simulated broiler chicken and will be used to determine which of the sensing devices are the most accurate. The accuracy of the best-performing device(s) will be validated on approximately 20 producer farms located throughout Saskatchewan. The ability to assess the amount of moisture held in the feathers will allow the broiler industry to develop a set of standards regarding whether birds should be shipped to the processing plant. Refusing to load broilers because of wet feathers will help improve the welfare of broilers. This research could also improve the profitability of the broiler industry. During transport, some broilers die because they are unable to cope with the cold exposure due to the reduced insulative values of the feathers. Preventing birds from being shipped when they are unfit for transport could potentially increase the number of birds arriving alive at the plant, which will also increases profits.