One of the most consumed meats in the world, chicken meat has achieved this projection due to its nutritional quality, as well as its versatility of preparation and consumption. The fast production cycle and high production characterize the dynamism of industrial poultry farming and the economic accessibility of this type of meat when compared to other species.
However, despite being an intense and productive activity, the poultry production sector faces constant challenges, especially regarding the welfare of the birds. This involves from daily management, which requires trained professionals and regular analysis of indicators such as mortality rate, growth, feed conversion and incidence of injuries, to the time of slaughter, where knowledge about the signs of consciousness of the birds and the functionality of the stunning equipment is essential.
Thus, good management practices, together with appropriate processing and ambience, provide a more humane conduct in animal treatment, optimizing the performance of birds and subsequently the quality of the product, with reduced damage to the carcass.
What are the evaluation criteria for the National Chicken Council (NCC) protocol?
The NCC welfare guidelines for broilers are categorized into 5 sections, briefly presented below:
- Corporate Commitment and Team Training: training must be conducted at least once a year for all employees working with live poultry. In addition, there must be written training for all phases of production, as well as means of reporting animal welfare violations and a written animal welfare program.
- Hatchery: must have a responsible person to ensure that animal welfare practices are followed; a written disaster response and recovery plan and alarm systems in the event of failures in critical systems such as electricity and heating; and a written program to monitor and respond to chick injuries during handling.
- Growing Operations: this section is subdivided into:
- Management, training, and emergency plan: you must have a training program, a person in charge of animal welfare, an alarm system in case of failure, and emergency contacts.
- Nutrition: The feed mill must meet Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), and have monitoring of the feed and water systems and feed formulation reviewed by a poultry nutritionist.
- Comfort and shelter: it is important to ensure that the birds are protected from environmental conditions and that there is control of the ammonia level in the air and the quality of the litter. In addition, it is necessary to provide an environment free of sharp edges or protrusions that can cause wounds, as well as to conduct regular evaluations of the health of the chicken's feet.
- Health care and monitoring: it is essential to have a veterinarian available to monitor the health of the birds and draw up a written health plan, as well as establish a sanitary off-peak period of at least 10 days between flocks and keep daily records of mortality.
- Flock management: ensure adequate housing density for the birds and implement a lighting program that allows at least 4 hours of darkness every 24 hours. Another relevant measure is the evaluation of the birds' walk.
- Harvesting and Transport: Essentially, birds must be harvested carefully and correctly. Birds that are unfit for transport should not be loaded and should be promptly euthanized. The density of the transport modules must be adequate, and it is essential to ensure that the transport compartments are in good condition.
- Processing Operations: Procedures for retrieving released birds must be adequate, as must the evaluation of the unloading process, noting whether cages are being moved correctly. Monitoring for wing and leg injuries, the effectiveness of the automatic knife, and the presence of a backup employee after the knife are also elementary measures.
What are the certification criteria for the National Chicken Council (NCC) protocol?
For certification, there must be no non-conformance in the requirements identified in the standard as an Audit Failure (AF).
The criteria that can cause an Audit Failure are:
- Acts of abuse at any stage of production, such as clipping wings, limbs, skinning conscious birds; dragging, hitting, kicking a chicken; malicious use of equipment resulting in the breaking of a bone, suffocation, or death of a bird.
- Live chick in waste basket at hatchery.
- Loss of birds during transport.
- Live bird in the dead-on-arrival (DOA) basket.
- Live bird left in cage
- Live bird in scalding.
Why choose Animal Welfare Certification?
Animal Welfare Certification brings several benefits to those involved, including:
- Implementation of good management practices that guarantee animal welfare, meeting the requirements of national and international legislations and protocols.
- Transparency of the productive process for the final consumer.
- Increase and loyalty of the consumer market.
- Ease of closing commercial deals with more demanding clients.
- Being more attractive to new investments.
Why choose QIMA/WQS for Animal Welfare Certification?
- Our team, with over 30 years of experience in the food industry supply chain, is ready to deliver end-to-end quality solutions for your business.
- Specializing in the food area, QIMA/WQS has a structure designed to start your service with speed and availability to clarify any questions that may arise along the way.
- Our protocols are approved and applied by auditors certified by PAACO (Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization).
- We have the QIMA/WQS Animal Welfare Seal, communicating clearly and directly with the end consumer about the strict auditing and certification process the company has undergone.
- More than 9,000 satisfied customers at all stages of the food chain are proof of the quality, dedication and success offered by QIMA/WQS.