Flow routes of electric currents in domestic hens during pre‐slaughter stunning

Abstract

Abstract 1. For a bird to be adequately stunned, sufficient electric current needs to reach the brain in order to induce an epileptic seizure. Methods are presented for determining the percentage of the stunning current which reaches the brain. 2. A transverse section of the thorax was examined and tissues including epithelium, fat, muscle, liver, keelbone and heart, were tested for the percentage of current flowing through each tissue. 3. It was found that the proportion reaching the brain varied from bird to bird whereas, with the exception of a slight variation in the proportion reaching the heart, that flowing through the other tissues located in the thorax was similar in all the birds tested. 4. The variability in current reaching the brain and to some extent the heart may determine whether a bird is stunned, inadequately stunned or killed after having entered a water‐bath stunner.