Factors causing weight loss and death of broiler chickens during the transportation process https://doi.org/10.12982/VIS.2026.016
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Abstract
Transportation of broiler chickens is an important sector that should be put into consideration in the poultry production chain. The process consists of different stages, such as pre-loading, loading, transportation, unloading, and post-unloading stages. While each stage is crucial and necessary these processes often contribute to significant stress and result in weight loss and mortality. During transportation, the form of stress often experienced is heat stress, which is then exacerbated by the transport conditions. Temperature is a significant challenge for transportation, specifically in tropical climates such as Indonesia. Therefore, this research aims to review factors causing heat stress during terrestrial transportation of broilers from farm to the slaughterhouse. Primary factors that cause heat stress are ambient temperature, humidity (affected by season and time of transportation), and crating density. Other factors, such as handling, transportation distance, and duration, affect the intensity of heat stress experienced by broilers. Heat stress can be mitigated during transportation by transporting broilers under non-extreme temperatures, in low densities per crate, short transportation distances, and duration. Manipulating lairage time, water spraying before, and supplementing nutrients before transporting can also be carried out to reduce the effects of heat stress.
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