Evaluation of Two Compressed Air Foam Systems for Culling Caged Layer Hens
Outbreaks of avian influenza (AI) and other highly contagious poultry diseases continue to be a concern for those involved in the poultry industry. In the situation of an outbreak, emergency depopulation of the birds involved is necessary. In this project, two compressed air foam systems (CAFS) were...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2018-04-01
|
| Series: | Animals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/5/61 |
| _version_ | 1818196057812631552 |
|---|---|
| author | Eric R. Benson Jaclyn A. Weiher Robert L. Alphin Morgan Farnell Daniel P. Hougentogler |
| author_facet | Eric R. Benson Jaclyn A. Weiher Robert L. Alphin Morgan Farnell Daniel P. Hougentogler |
| author_sort | Eric R. Benson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Outbreaks of avian influenza (AI) and other highly contagious poultry diseases continue to be a concern for those involved in the poultry industry. In the situation of an outbreak, emergency depopulation of the birds involved is necessary. In this project, two compressed air foam systems (CAFS) were evaluated for mass emergency depopulation of layer hens in a manure belt equipped cage system. In both experiments, a randomized block design was used with multiple commercial layer hens treated with one of three randomly selected depopulation methods: CAFS, CAFS with CO2 gas, and CO2 gas. In Experiment 1, a Rowe manufactured CAFS was used, a selection of birds were instrumented, and the time to unconsciousness, brain death, altered terminal cardiac activity and motion cessation were recorded. CAFS with and without CO2 was faster to unconsciousness, however, the other parameters were not statistically significant. In Experiment 2, a custom Hale based CAFS was used to evaluate the impact of bird age, a selection of birds were instrumented, and the time to motion cessation was recorded. The difference in time to cessation of movement between pullets and spent hens using CAFS was not statistically significant. Both CAFS depopulate caged layers, however, there was no benefit to including CO2. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T01:28:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2f1436ca13964850b30a78d29bccbc0d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T01:28:02Z |
| publishDate | 2018-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-2f1436ca13964850b30a78d29bccbc0d2022-12-22T00:43:03ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152018-04-01856110.3390/ani8050061ani8050061Evaluation of Two Compressed Air Foam Systems for Culling Caged Layer HensEric R. Benson0Jaclyn A. Weiher1Robert L. Alphin2Morgan Farnell3Daniel P. Hougentogler4Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USADepartment of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USADepartment of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USADepartment of Poultry Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USADepartment of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USAOutbreaks of avian influenza (AI) and other highly contagious poultry diseases continue to be a concern for those involved in the poultry industry. In the situation of an outbreak, emergency depopulation of the birds involved is necessary. In this project, two compressed air foam systems (CAFS) were evaluated for mass emergency depopulation of layer hens in a manure belt equipped cage system. In both experiments, a randomized block design was used with multiple commercial layer hens treated with one of three randomly selected depopulation methods: CAFS, CAFS with CO2 gas, and CO2 gas. In Experiment 1, a Rowe manufactured CAFS was used, a selection of birds were instrumented, and the time to unconsciousness, brain death, altered terminal cardiac activity and motion cessation were recorded. CAFS with and without CO2 was faster to unconsciousness, however, the other parameters were not statistically significant. In Experiment 2, a custom Hale based CAFS was used to evaluate the impact of bird age, a selection of birds were instrumented, and the time to motion cessation was recorded. The difference in time to cessation of movement between pullets and spent hens using CAFS was not statistically significant. Both CAFS depopulate caged layers, however, there was no benefit to including CO2.http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/5/61depopulationfoamcagelayer henchickenpoultryemergencyeuthanasiaculling methods |
| spellingShingle | Eric R. Benson Jaclyn A. Weiher Robert L. Alphin Morgan Farnell Daniel P. Hougentogler Evaluation of Two Compressed Air Foam Systems for Culling Caged Layer Hens Animals depopulation foam cage layer hen chicken poultry emergency euthanasia culling methods |
| title | Evaluation of Two Compressed Air Foam Systems for Culling Caged Layer Hens |
| title_full | Evaluation of Two Compressed Air Foam Systems for Culling Caged Layer Hens |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of Two Compressed Air Foam Systems for Culling Caged Layer Hens |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of Two Compressed Air Foam Systems for Culling Caged Layer Hens |
| title_short | Evaluation of Two Compressed Air Foam Systems for Culling Caged Layer Hens |
| title_sort | evaluation of two compressed air foam systems for culling caged layer hens |
| topic | depopulation foam cage layer hen chicken poultry emergency euthanasia culling methods |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/5/61 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ericrbenson evaluationoftwocompressedairfoamsystemsforcullingcagedlayerhens AT jaclynaweiher evaluationoftwocompressedairfoamsystemsforcullingcagedlayerhens AT robertlalphin evaluationoftwocompressedairfoamsystemsforcullingcagedlayerhens AT morganfarnell evaluationoftwocompressedairfoamsystemsforcullingcagedlayerhens AT danielphougentogler evaluationoftwocompressedairfoamsystemsforcullingcagedlayerhens |