Broiler Stunning and Meat Quality

KSOY, L. J. MCKINSTRY, L. J. WILKINS, I. PARKMAN, A. PHILLIPS,

E. O. GO
R. I. RICHARDSON, and M. H. ANIL1
Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, BS40 5DU United Kingdom
ABSTRACT The effects of electrical and concussion
stunning on meat and carcass quality of broilers were
compared. Broiler chickens (n = 165) were subjected to
treatments: 1) electrical stunning with no fibrillation, 2)
electrical stunning with fibrillation, 3) concussion stunning with restraint, or 4) concussion stunning with no
restraint. Electrical stunning (100 V, 80 mA, 50 Hz sinusoidal waveform alternating current) was applied for 3 s.
Concussion was applied using a nonpenetrative captive
bolt gun with or without restraint. We assessed broken
bones, hemorrhages, meat quality defects, blood loss, pH
at 10 min and 24 h, and texture from breasts filleted 3 h
and 24 h postmortem. Electrically stunned birds showed

a significantly higher incidence of broken bones (P <

0.0001), coracoid and furculum bone hemorrhages (P <
0.0001), and nonbone hemorrhages (P < 0.0001) than birds
stunned by concussion. However, the incidence of red
wing tips (P < 0.005) and shoulder hemorrhages was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in concussion-stunned birds
than electrically stunned birds. Electrically stunned and
nonfibrillated birds had the fastest blood loss rate. The
pH value at 10 min was the lowest in concussion-stunned
and unrestrained birds. Breast muscles from concussionstunned birds that were filleted at 3 h postmortem were
more tender than those from birds stunned electrically
(P < 0.05). We concluded that concussion stunning could
be advantageous for early filleting.

(Key words: electrical stunning, concussion stunning, broiler meat quality)

1999 Poultry Science 78:17961800

INTRODUCTION
Preslaughter stunning is conventionally used in the
European poultry industry to achieve the legal requirement of immobilizing and rendering birds insensible to
pain before death by exsanguination (Wask, 1955). However, stunning is not required (in the United Kingdom)
if slaughter is instantaneous, as with decapitation or dislocation of the neck. Electrical stunning is the most common
method used prior to slaughter in commercial poultry
plants. Although five types of electrical stunning systems
are available (Gregory, 1989), the most common system
is electrical water bath stunning (Bilgili, 1992). Although
electrical stunning is beneficial on a welfare basis, a number of downgrading conditions were observed in European Union (EU) countries when high electrical currents
were used (Harris and Carter, 1977; Gregory, 1987; Wilkins and Scott, 1987; Veerkamp, 1988; Wabeck, 1988;
Gregory and Wilkins, 1989a,b; Kettlewell and Hallworth,
1990). Gregory and Wilkins (1989a) found that some defects appeared to be affected by the level at which the
stunning current was applied. The incidence of shoulder
hemorrhages and red wing tips was highest between 111

Received for publication March 1, 1999.

Accepted for publication September 1, 1999.
1
To whom correspondence should be addressed: Haluk.Anil@
bris.ac.uk

and 150 mA, and breast muscle hemorrhages increased

after 130 mA. The increasing effect of higher electrical
currents on the incidence of broken bones was observed
by Wilkins and Scott (1987) and Gregory and Wilkins
(1989a, 1990). During conventional water bath stunning,
electrical current passes through the whole body, causing
muscle contraction, broken bones, and breast muscle
hemorrhages (Hillebrand et al., 1996). The use of electrical
stunning with higher stunning frequencies, e.g. 1,500 Hz,
to prevent chickens from ventricular fibrillation and downgrading results in fewer broken bones than stunning
with 50 Hz (Gregory et al., 1990).
As an alternative method to electrical stunning, captive
bolt stunning, either penetrative or nonpenetrative, might
have some advantage in poultry processing. The welfare
advantages of concussion stunning were shown by Blackmore (1979) and Daly et al. (1987) in red meat animals.
Concussion is induced by rapid acceleration of the head,
causing movement of the brain relative to the cranium
(commatio cerebri). If the acceleration is sufficiently severe, extensive tissue damage will occur, and brain function will be irreversibly impaired.
Gregory and Wotton (1990) compared the effectiveness
of neck dislocation by stretching or crushing with percus-

Abbreviation Key: EU = European Union, VER = visual-evoked responses.

1796

1797

BROILER STUNNING AND MEAT QUALITY

sion stunning by examining the presence of visual-evoked

responses (VER) in broiler chickens. They found that a
percussion bolt gun caused a pronounced reduction of
VER in the chicken, but the responses returned in a simplified form if the chickens were ventilated with air. The
objective of this study was to investigate and evaluate the
effects of nonpenetrative concussion stunning, conducted
on either restrained or unrestrained birds, on meat and
carcass quality, and to compare the results with electrical
stunning, either with or without cardiac arrest.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One hundred sixty-five, 6-wk-old, commercially produced broilers (average live weight 2.11 0.09 kg) were
collected from a local producer and transported to holding pens where they were housed overnight. Feed was
withdrawn 12 h prior to slaughter.

Slaughter Procedures
Electrical Stunning. Electrical stunning was applied
using 80mA, 50Hz sinusoidal AC for 3 s. All birds were
stunned individually by being inverted on a shackle connected to ground and manually lowered into an electrified water bath. A constant current stunner2 was used
to provide sufficient current for stunning. Current and
voltage were measured with calibrated Fluke 8060A True
multimeters3, and cardiac function was measured with
a Mingograph 34 ECG meter4. On average, half of the
electrically stunned birds had ventricular fibrillation,
whereas the other half had normal rhythm. After stunning, birds were placed on a static shackling wire, and
then neck cutting was performed about 5 s after stunning.
Mechanical Stunning. A mushroom-headed, nonpenetrative captive bolt gun5 (Cash special), with 3-grain
brown, labeled, short super cash cartridges5, was used
to stun the birds. The birds were put into a bleeding cone
and shot on the head from behind. Immediately after
stunning, birds were killed using a full ventral neck cut.
The restrained birds were allowed to bleed in the cone,
whereas concussion-stunned, unrestrained birds were
moved to shackles after stunning and before neck cutting.
Bleedout. Birds were weighed 120 s after neck cutting
to determine blood loss. They were then passed through
a scalding tank (51 C, 2 min 40 s) and mechanical picker6
for 1 min 20 s, eviscerated, placed in an air chiller (1 C)
immediately after processing, and kept in the chiller for
24 h.
Filleting. Three hours after neck cutting, left breasts of
half of the birds (82) were manually deboned, vacuum-

MRI, Bristol, BS40 5DU, U.K.

RS Components LTD RMS, Corby, NN17 9RS, U.K.
4
Elemea-Schonander, Stockholm, Sweden.
5
Accles and Shelvoke LTD, Birmingham, B6 7UT, U.K.
6
Cope and Cope, Richfield Avenue, Reading, U.K.
7
PHM 80 pH meter Radiometer, Copenhagen, Denmark.
8
C. Stevens and Son LTD, St Albans, Herts, Ig10 3TZ, U.K.
3

packed, and returned to the chiller (1 C). After 24 h, the

left breasts of the remaining birds (83) were filleted.
Downgrading Assessments. Downgrading was subjectively assessed 24 h post-mortem (Gregory and Wilkins, 1989a). The skin covering the pygostyle, wing tips,
and feather tracts was subjectively graded 0, 1, or 2 for
redness. Feather tract was only assessed on the righthand side. Pectoralis major and Pectoralis minor muscles
were removed from the skeleton, and at the end of this
dissection the muscles were given an overall grade for
hemorrhages, in which 0, 1, or 2 indicated increased severity of the defect. In general, this scoring system reflects
attitudes of processors toward higher quality oven-ready
and fresh portion trades. A score of 0 indicated that the
carcasses were acceptable. A score of 1 indicated that the
bird would have been downgraded because of defect and
either discounted or used for further processing. A score
of 2 indicated a blemish of sufficient severity to make
that part of the carcass unsuitable as a carcass or portion
for the fresh or frozen trade; that part would have been
removed. Fractures of the coracoid, furculum, and scapula were also recorded.

Meat Quality Measurement

pH Measurement. The pH was measured 10 min after
slaughter by inserting a probe7 into the right breast (P.
major). This procedure was repeated 24 h after slaughter
on a different location in the right breast.
Instrumental Texture Measurement (Shear Force).
The vacuum-packed breast meat was cooked in a water
bath (85 C) to an internal temperature of 80 C. After
cooling in ice-water, the packs were held overnight in a
chiller (+1 C). The next day, packs were opened, and the
fillets were drained. Five replicate samples (20 11 11
mm) were cut, with fibers parallel to the long axis and
sheared at right angles to the fiber direction on a Stevens
Compression Response Analyser8 fitted with a volodkeritch shear cell. The machine was set at a speed of 35
mm/min, and 8.5 mm of travel and peak shear force
was recorded.

Statistical Analysis
All data were analyzed using the Statsview package on
an Apple Macintosh computer. The significant differences
were found by using Statxact-3, chi-square, and ANOVA
tests. The experimental design was a 2 2 3 latin square.
Each treatment (concussive stun plus restraint, concussive stun with no restraint, or electrical stunning) was
applied on four separate occasions over a 2-d period,
giving four replications. Significant differences between
means were tested using Fisher PLSD and Scheffe F-test.

RESULTS
Downgrading Measurements
Broken Bones and Bone Hemorrhages. Electrically
stunned birds had a higher incidence of broken coracoid

 KSOY ET AL.
GO

1798

TABLE 1. Number of birds showing appearance defects

after one of two stunning methods
Defect

Concussion
stunning

Electrical
stunning

Broken bones
Bone hemorrhages
Breast hemorrhages
Shoulder hemorrhages
Red wing tips

(n = 80)
8b
1b
3b
11a
31a

37a
20a
30a
1b
10b

(n = 85)

a,b
Numbers in the same row with no common superscript differ significantly (P < 0.05).

and scapula bones than did mechanically stunned birds.

Overall, 37 of the 85 birds in the electrically stunned
group had a broken bone, whereas only 8 birds had broken bones in the concussion-stunned group. Hemorrhages associated with coracoid and furculum bone
breaks were significantly higher with electrically stunned
birds (n = 20) than with concussion-stunned birds (n = 1)
(P < 0.0001) (Tables 1 and 2).
Breast Hemorrhages. Thirty out of 85 electrically
stunned birds had nonbone hemorrhages, whereas this
was true of only three out of 80 birds in the concussionstunned group. Thirteen birds in the electrically stunned
and fibrillated group (n = 45) had breast hemorrhages
(Table 1). In the electrically stunned, nonfibrillated group,
42.5% of birds had nonbone hemorrhages, which was
significantly higher than either the concussion-stunned,
restrained or unrestrained group (P < 0.0001) (Table 2).
Shoulder Hemorrhages. Concussion-stunned birds
had a significantly higher incidence of shoulder hemorrhages than did the electrically stunned birds (P < 0.05)
(Table 1); concussion and restraint gave the highest incidence (17.5%) (Table 2).
Appearance Defects. Red wing tips were higher in
the concussion-stunned group, either with or without
restraint (50 and 27.5%), respectively, than in either electrically stunned group (Table 2).

Blood Loss. Significant blood loss differences were

observed between different stunning treatments (P <
0.05). Electrically stunned, nonfibrillated birds lost significantly more blood in 2 min (Table 3). Unrestrained
concussion-stunned birds had the lowest percentage of
blood loss. In addition, electrically stunned, fibrillated
birds lost significantly less blood than did nonfibrillated
birds (P < 0.05) (Table 3).
pH and Texture. Ten minutes postmortem, the concussion-stunned group had lower pH values than did electrically stunned birds (P < 0.05) (Table 3). Electrically
stunned, fibrillated birds had significantly lower pH than
did the normal rhythm group (P < 0.05). However, at 24
h postmortem no difference was evident between the
treatments (Table 3).
Breasts muscles filleted from mechanically stunned
birds, whether restrained or not, had significantly lower
shear values than those from electrically stunned birds
(P < 0.05). The shear values were nearly the same for
treatments at 24 h, but breasts from electrically stunned,
fibrillated birds showed significantly higher shear values
than did breasts from birds concussion-stunned with restraint (P < 0.05) (Table 3).

DISCUSSION
Broken Bones and Hemorrhages
The higher incidence of broken bones in the electrically
stunned group compared with the concussion-stunned
group showed that electrical stunning resulted in a higher
incidence of broken bones around the collar region. Similar results were found by Mohan Raj et al. (1992) when
electrical stunning, as practiced in the European Union
(EU), was compared with gas stunning. Such breaks to
the collar region are one of the most important problems
for the poultry industry because they contaminate the
final products with hemorrhages and bone splinters. It
follows that the short but severe tonic spasms during

TABLE 2. Effect of different stunning methods on the percentage of broken bones,

bone hemorrhages, and nonbone hemorrhages (n = 165)
Mechanical stunning
(Concussion)

Electrical stunning
Defect

Nonfibrillated

Fibrillated

40

45

Restrained

Unrestrained

40

40

(%)
Broken bones
Coracoid
Furculum
Hemorrhages
Scapula
Coracoid
Furculum
Nonbone breast muscle
hemorrhages
Appearance defects
Shoulder hemorrhages
Red wing tips

20.0
17.5

20.0
17.8

0
10.0

0
10.0

17.5
15.0
5

11.1
17.8
8.9

0
0
2.5

0
0
0

42.5

28.9

2.5

0
10.0

2.3
13.3

17.5
27.5

10.0
50.0

1799

BROILER STUNNING AND MEAT QUALITY

TABLE 3. Effect (SD) of different stunning methods on general quality measurements of chicken meat
Mechanical stunning
(Concussion)

Electrical stunning
Variable

Nonfibrillated

n
Blood loss, %
pH (10 min)
pH (24 h)
Shear value at 3 h postmortem
Shear value at 24 h postmortem

3.18a
6.48b
5.81
3.71a
2.72ab

Fibrillated

40

Restrained

45
(0.49)
(0.16)
(0.11)
(1.56)
(0.57)

2.69bc
6.66a
5.90
3.71a
2.99a

Unrestrained

40
(0.70)
(0.14)
(0.12)
(1.56)
(0.83)

2.81b
6.15b
5.89
2.80b
2.42b

40
(0.58)
(0.19)
(0.14)
(0.88)
(0.66)

2.49c
6.08c
5.86
2.79b
2.81ab

(0.56)
(0.23)
(0.13)
(0.82)
(0.77)

Numbers in the same row with no common superscript differ significantly (P < 0.05).

a,b,c

electrical current flow result in a higher incidence of broken bones and cause hemorrhages related to bone breaks
after EU electrical stunning. Mohan Raj et al. (1992) observed that tetanic convulsions that occurred during EU
electrical stunning had a detrimental effect on breast muscle. Super contractions during EU electrical stunning rupture blood vessels, causing a high incidence of breast
muscle hemorrhages (Hillebrand et al., 1996).
According to Gregory and Wilkins (1989a,b, 1990), red
wing tips can develop because of the flapping of wings
before death, stunning currents in the range of 110 to 150
mA per bird, poor bleeding, or harsh plucking in cardiacarrested birds. In our experiments, unrestrained, concussion-stunned birds had the highest incidence of red wing
tips; these birds were observed to show severe wing
flapping immediately after stunning and had the poorest
blood loss at exsanguination. Both these factors may have
contributed to the red wing tip condition.

Blood Loss
After neck cutting, chickens lose between 35 and 50%
of their total blood, which is about 4% of live weight
(Newell and Shaffner, 1950). In this experiment, birds lost
between 2.49 and 3.20% of their BW in a 2-min bleeding
time. Our results showed that electrically stunned, nonfibrillated birds had the highest blood loss (P < 0.05). This
result might be due to the effect of a beating heart during
bleeding. Concussion-only stunning had the lowest
bleed-out percentage, which agreed with results of Davis
and Coe (1954) in which mechanically stunned birds gave
the second poorest bleed-out of five methods used, including 1) single carotid artery and jugular vein cut, 2)
both carotid arteries and jugular veins cut, 3) beheading,
4) debraining, and 5) striking the head with a stick and
then both carotids and jugulars cut. Kotula and Helbacka
(1966) found that concussion-stunned birds (penetrative
captive bolt stunning) and birds slaughtered by a standard cut lost significantly more blood than birds electrically stunned using a head-only application. These differences might be the result of different mechanical stunning
methods used. In addition, our electrical stunning treatments were applied using a conventional water bath stunner, which necessarily involves passage of the stunning
current through the whole body of the bird.

pH and Texture
Muscular activity accelerates glycolysis, causing the accumulation of lactic acid in the muscle tissue and thus
lowering pH (Khan and Nakamura, 1970). In contrast,
EU electrical stunning delays postmortem glycolysis or
reduces early lactic acid accumulation because of the suppression of perimortem struggle (Papinaho et al., 1995).
Hot filleting of broilers has been found to cause increased
toughness in a large proportion of breasts; and 3 to 10 h
of postmortem aging was needed prior to breast muscle
removal for development of an adequate degree of tenderness (Lyon et al., 1985). Rapid chilling immediately
after slaughter may be associated with cold shortening
and tough meat (Smith et al., 1969).
In birds mechanically stunned, with or without restraint and filleted at 3 h postmortem, breast muscle texture was significantly better in comparison to fillets from
electrically stunned birds, both fibrillated and unfibrillated. When filleting was carried out at 24 h postmortem,
these differences were less evident. The lower pH values
10 min after slaughter in the mechanically stunned group,
with or without restraint, indicate an earlier development
of rigor, possibly caused by the observed long-term convulsions, than in the electrically stunned group, both fibrillated and nonfibrillated. Early rigor development in
mechanically stunned birds would avoid any cold- or
nontension-induced toughening and thus allow earlier
filleting than is currently practiced in the United
Kingdom.

CONCLUSION
Concussion stunning of poultry resulted in improved
carcass and meat quality relative to EU electric stunning
conditions. However, bleed-out rate was not as fast as
that of the EU electrically stunned, normal rhythm group.
Concussion-stunned birds had less broken or dislocated bones than the electrically stunned birds, which was
associated with fewer hemorrhages. Hence, this method
could reduce downgrading problems. A further advantage would appear to be an earlier onset of rigor and
tenderization of the meat, which would allow earlier deboning, saving on chiller space.

 KSOY ET AL.
GO

1800

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The first author would like to thank Adnan Menderes
University, Aydin-Turkey, for support of graduate studies, thus enabling these studies to be carried out.

REFERENCES
Bilgili, S. F., 1992. Electrical stunning of broilersBasic concepts
and carcass quality implications: A review. J. Appl. Poult.
Res. 1:135146.
Blackmore, D. K., 1979. Nonpenetrative percussion stunning of
sheep and calves. Vet. Rec. 20:372375.
Daly, C., N. G. Gregory, and S. B. Wotton, 1987. Captive bolt
stunning of cattle: Effects of brain function and role of bolt
velocity. Br. Vet. J. 143:574580.
Davis, L. L., and M. E. Coe, 1954. Bleeding of chickens during
the killing operations. Poultry Sci. 33:616619.
Gregory, N. G., 1987. Turkey slaughtering. Turkeys 35(4):19.
Gregory, N. G., 1989. Stunning and slaughter. Pages 3163 in:
Poultry Processing, G. C. Mead ed. Elsevier Applied Sci.,
London, UK.
Gregory, N. G., and L. J. Wilkins, 1989a. Effect of stunning
current on carcass quality in chickens. Vet. Rec. 124:530532.
Gregory, N. G., and L. J. Wilkins, 1989b. Effect of slaughter
method on bleeding efficiency in chickens. J. Sci. Agric.
47:1320.
Gregory, N. G., and L. J. Wilkins, 1990. Broken bones in chickens:
Effects of stunning and processing in broilers. Br. Poult. Sci.
31:5358.
Gregory, N. G., L. J. Wilkins, S. D. Eleperuma, A. J. Ballantyne,
and N. D. Overfield, 1990. Broken bones in domestic fowls:
Effect of husbandry system and stunning method in end-oflay hens. Br. Poult. Sci. 31:5969.
Gregory, N. G., and B. S. Wotton, 1990. Comparison of neck
dislocation and percussion of the head on visual evoked
responses in the chickens brain. Vet. Rec. 126:570572.

Harris, E., and T. Carter, 1977. Broiler blood losses with manual
and mechanical killers. Poultry Sci. 56:18271831.
Hillebrand, S.J.W., E. Lambooy, and C. H. Veerkamp, 1996.
The effect of alternative electrical and mechanic stunning
methods on haemorrhaging and meat quality of broiler breast
and thigh muscles. Poultry Sci. 75:664671.
Kettlewell, P., and N. Hallworth, 1990. Electrical stunning of
chickens. J. Agric. Eng. Res. 47:139151.
Khan, A. W., and R. Nakamura, 1970. Effects of pre- and postmortem glycolysis on poultry tenderness. J. Food Sci.
35:266267.
Kotula, A. W., and N. V. Helbacka, 1966. Blood retained by
chicken carcasses and cut-up parts as influenced by slaughter
method. Poultry Sci. 45:404410.
Lyon, C. E., D. Hamm, and J. E. Thomson, 1985. PH and tenderness of broiler breast meat deboned various times after chilling. Poultry Sci. 64:307310.
Mohan Raj, A. B., N. G. Gregory, and L. J. Wilkins, 1992. Survival
rate and carcass downgrading after the stunning with carbon
dioxide-argon mixtures. Vet. Rec. 130:325328.
Newell, G. W., and C. S. Shaffner, 1950. Blood loss by chickens
during killing. Poultry Sci. 29:271275.
Papinaho, P. A., D. L. Fletcher, and R. J. Buhr, 1995. Effect of
electrical stunning amperage and peri-mortem struggle on
broiler breast rigor development and meat quality. Poultry
Sci. 74:15331539.
Smith, M. C., Jr., M. D. Judge, and W. J. Stadleman, 1969. A
cold shortening effect in avian muscle. J. Food Sci. 34:4246.
Veerkamp, C. H., 1988. What is the right current to stun and
kill broilers. Poult.-Misset June/July:3031.
Wabeck, C., 1988. How stunning affects product quality. Poult.
Int. February:4852.
WASK, 1955. The Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing)
Regulations. MAFF, U.K.
Wilkins, L. J., and C. A. Scott, 1987. The effect of stunning on
poultry carcass quality. Meat Hygienist December:3132.