Slaughter of chickens
Hanging, stunning and slaughter
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A batch of chickens for slaughter generally consists of 30-40,000 animals. For practical reasons the slaughter is done while the chickens hang with their heads downward. In order to ensure that the chickens wait for only a short time before slaughter, it is necessary to systematise the working process. As quickly as possible after arrival to the abattoir, the chickens are taken from the transport boxes and hung by their feet in a conveyor that takes them to stunning. The hanging of the chickens is a very strenuous job. There is therefore job rotation, so that the same workers do not do the hanging all the time. |
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The chickens are stunned prior to slaughter at all Danish poultry abattoirs. It is done by conveying the heads of the chickens through a water bath with a weak electric current. The chickens become unconscious and relaxed before they reach the slaughter machine. The chickens have now been through the slaughter machine where a rotating knife cuts their neck. Next to the slaughter machine an operator checks that all the chickens are slaughtered correctly. |
Carcass evisceration and processing
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All chickens are opened and the viscera with the edible portions such as heart, neck, gizzard and liver are taken out. Apart from the intestines, all parts of the chicken are sold for human consumption. Some of the parts we don't eat inDenmark, e.g. the 'parson's nose' and the feet, but these parts are sold in other parts of the globe where they are considered delicacies. Some chickens are sold as complete carcasses - some of them with the edible giblets inside after cleaning and packaging into small bags - others are sold as grill chickens without giblets. |
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An increasing proportion of the chickens are separated into breast, legs and wings, and these parts can also be cut into smaller parts and boned. In some plants a further processing is taking place for example marinating, breading and sausage making.
Clean department
The process at the abattoir is for hygiene reasons divided into an unclean and a clean department. The unclean department includes hanging, stunning and slaughter. The clean department includes opening, evisceration, chilling, cutting and packaging. The chickens are transported through the different processes on a conveyor. There is continuously a major attention to the hygiene.
Today many of the processes are mechanised; this means that there are not many people employed at the abattoir.
Food inspection
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All chickens are controlled by a veterinarian employed by the authorities or by one of his assistants in order to ensure that only chickens suitable for human consumption pass through the process. Suspicious chickens are condemned or taken aside for further examination. The authorities also control that the abattoir ensures that the chickens do not contain too much water, and that they are packaged and labelled correctly. The EU has regulatory requirements in these areas. |
