Impact of seasonal variation and transportation distance on welfare and economic parameters in broiler breeder chickens during transit to slaughterhouses

1. Transporting animals under inappropriate conditions causes pain and suffering to the animals and causes financial loss for the producers. This study investigated the effects of the season and transportation distance on the dead-on-arrival (DOA), reject rate (due to lesions and damage) and body weight loss parameters of the broiler breeder (BB) chickens during transportation from the farm to the slaughterhouse.2. Data was obtained by analysing two-year records of a commercial slaughterhouse in Turkey. During the period examined, 2,452,624 BB were transported and slaughtered to this slaughterhouse by 554 trucks.3. The lowest DOA rate (0.186%) occurred in the summer season and the reject rate in summer (0.104%) was lower than in other seasons. During the monitored period, the effect of season on body weight loss was not statistically significant. When the impact of transportation distance was considered, there was more body weight loss (1.663%) in animals transported over longer distances.4. The data highlighted how important it is to pay attention to transportation conditions of these animals to the slaughterhouse, especially under cold climate conditions and over long distances, both in terms of animal welfare and economics.