EFFECTS OF CURRENT AND WAVE-FORM ON THE INCIDENCE OF BREAST MEAT HEMORRHAGES IN ELECTRICALLY STUNNED BROILER CHICKEN CARCASSES

The effects of the current and its waveform on the prevalence of broke n bones and breast meat haemorrhages in electrically stunned broiler c hickens were examined at two poultry processing plants. Increasing the current over the range from 68 to 115 mA per bird had very little eff ect on the carcase quality, but increased the incidence of broken furc ulum and coracoid bones in birds stunned with a sinusoidal alternating current (AC). Clipping a sinusoidal AC with a thyristor had a pronoun ced effect on the carcase quality, and resulted in more broken bones a nd breast meat haemorrhages.