A survey to investigate potential dehydration in slaughtered broiler chickens.

A survey of 800 broilers arriving at two commercial slaughterhouses with a combined annual throughput of 40 million birds was carried out. Each plant was visited on four occasions throughout summer and winter and blood samples were collected from 100 broilers at exsanguination throughout the day of each visit. In all, the survey covered 16 lorry loads of broilers delivered to one plant and 20 loads delivered to the other. The blood collected was analysed for packed cell volume (PCV), plasma creatine kinase, total protein, sodium, glucose, osmolality and corticosterone. Based on the measures of PCV, plasma total protein, sodium and osmolality there was no evidence of dehydration amongst the lorry loads of birds delivered to the plants. There were differences between the two plants in the levels of all of the blood variables that were measured, except for those of plasma corticosterone.