AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE BATCH KILLING OF TURKEYS IN THEIR TRANSPORTCONTAINERS USING MIXTURES OF GASES

This study was carried out under commercial conditions to investigate the feasibility of killing turkeys while they were still in their tran sport containers, with a mixture of gases, and to compare the effects of this, method and electrical stunning on the prevalence of carcase d owngrading conditions and haemorrhages in the breast muscles. The resu lts showed that turkeys could be readily killed while still in their t ransport containers by using either anoxia induced with 90 per cent ar gon in air or hypercapnic anoxia induced with a mixture of 30 per cent carbon dioxide and 60 per cent argon in air, and that the prevalence of carcase-downgrading conditions and haemorrhages in the breast muscl es was lower after killing the turkeys with the gases.