Utilização da aplicação Android I-WatchTurkey® nas explorações e do protocolo Welfare Quality® no matadouro

"In Portugal, the production and meat consumption of turkeys is on the increase and the welfare (BEA) issues, which are the core plan to profitable production levels, have not been a frequent target in research studies. Thus, the main aim of this study was to expand knowledge related with the assessment of the BEA in the production of turkeys following the flocks from farms to the slaughterhouse. Hence, since October to December 2014, 5 flocks of female turkeys and 5 flocks of male turkeys were covered, from 4 different farms. During this period, we’ve used the I-Watch Turkey® Android application for studying the BEA in 3 different ages, during the production stage, in which 15 measuring indicators were used the assess the BEA. In a second round of this study, since December 2014 to February 2015, we’ve assessed the animal welfare in the farms though data collected in the slaughterhouse, with basis on the Welfare Quality® European Reference Protocol. As indicators, we’ve used the presence of contact dermatitis (chest lesions, burns in the tarsus bones and foot pad dermatitis). As for indicators collected in the farms, we’ve verified a significantly high decrease in the quality of the beds, with age. This fact may contribute to an increase in skin lesions in females given that the absence of feathers has significantly increased its occurrence with age, predominantly in this gender. We’ve also observed that males show a significantly reduced mobility, which is higher than in females and, since there was no difference in the quality of beds in both genders, we could question whether the live weight (greater in males) can also be relevant for the occurrence of contact dermatitis. These two results advise us on the extending care with beds at the end of the production cycle, with the objective of minimizing the occurrence of contact dermatitis. The importance of the quality of bedding was yet emphasized in this study due to the very significant evidence of a correlation with mortality of the flocks. Another result to point out was the highly significant increase in the occurrence of the interaction with the human beings, as age goes by. This was highly significant in the males as compared to the female turkeys. This result warns us against the possible extended difficulty in applying this protocol in male turkeys, from the age of 14 weeks. In regard to the indicators we collected in the slaughterhouse, the foot pad dermatitis occurred in about 100% of the studied animals. The highest level (4), was significantly higher in males, where we verified a very significant correlation between the occurrence of this level and the occurrence of chest lesion, which highlights the importance of the economic losses associated with the possible rejection of the chest muscle. This study’s results contribute to a better knowledge of the animal welfare assessment, related with turkey production. However, we consider that more research should be developed to improve the standard of the ground basis and precision levels of the monitoring protocols, which, we hope, in a near future, will be introduced in a legal system of animal welfare assessment in this animal species."