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TRIPLE A: Animal Awareness & Action | aWISH Articles

Dead on Arrival (DOA) in Broilers: Animal Welfare and Slaughterhouse Relevance

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Context of the Problem
Dead on arrival (DOA) refers to broilers that die during transport or while waiting in containers before slaughter. It is one of the most serious welfare indicators in poultry production, as it reflects severe suffering at the final stage of the production cycle. DOA rates reflect both animal welfare as well as slaughterhouse efficiency, and high rates can lead to direct financial losses and reduced consumer confidence. The problem is multifactorial, with primary causes including adverse conditions during transport such as heat or cold stress, overcrowding and poor ventilation, rough handling during catching and loading as well as long lairage times. These factors interact, meaning that poor preparation, inappropriate transport conditions and delays can quickly escalate mortality risks.

Monitoring and aWISH Project
DOA rates are easily recorded at the slaughterhouse, making this stage the most reliable point for consistent monitoring. Recording DOA provides objective data that highlights weaknesses in catching, transport or lairage procedures, and systematic monitoring allows trends to be identified over time. Within the aWISH project, automated registration systems and digital data tools are being developed to consistently capture DOA information and connect it with other welfare indicators, enabling slaughterhouses to serve as central checkpoints for welfare performance across the poultry production chain.

Best Practices
Preventing DOA requires a proactive approach across all stages of the chain. On farms, careful catching with minimal stress and gentle handling reduces injuries and exhaustion. During transport, correct stocking densities, proper container design and well-ventilated vehicles are essential. Scheduling journeys outside of extreme temperature periods and ensuring rapid unloading on arrival further reduce risks. Regular reviews of DOA trends at the slaughterhouse combined with structured feedback to farms and transporters, ensure that corrective actions are taken when mortality increases. This continuous monitoring-feedback loop enables slaughterhouses to not only safeguard welfare but also enhance efficiency and maintain high standards of meat quality.

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1. aWISH Introduction

We would like to invite you to participate in the aWISH Expert Panel, as we believe that your experience and knowledge will contribute greatly to a key consultation body of the project. aWISH is a 4-year project funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme. Before you decide to participate in the aWISH Expert Panel, please take the time to read this document carefully to understand what your involvement will be in our project’s activity. If there is anything you do not understand, please feel free to ask questions.

1.1 What is the aWISH project about?

In the EU, a challenge that still remains is to reconcile the social and moral demand for a high level of animal welfare with other pillars of sustainable livestock production. Indeed, 82% of Europeans believe that farm animals should be better protected than they currently are. A broad definition of animal welfare refers to the feelings and physical well-being of an individual animal. Broilers and pigs are the farm animals EU citizens care most about, and they are also the most important meat-producing animals in the EU and worldwide. Both pigs and broilers have significant welfare problems at all stages of production (on-farm, loading and transport, unloading and slaughter), leading a growing number of citizens to question the social license to produce. Ambitious and effective, but also practical and efficient solutions are needed. This is where the aWISH project comes in to fill this gap! The aim of aWISH is to develop and provide a cost-effective solution for assessing and improving the welfare of meat-producing livestock in Europe. The aWISH solution is based on the automatic monitoring of animal-related indicators at slaughter. The necessary technologies will also be developed to collect complementary data on farm or during transport. Pilot and development activities will be carried out in 6 broiler and fattening pig production chains across Europe using a lean multi-actor approach to test and validate the project results. A catalogue of animal welfare indicators will disseminate all validated indicators and standardised data collection methods. Best practice guides will be developed to improve key aspects of animal welfare in pigs and broilers and to help external stakeholders use aWISH technologies and tools. In this context, the aWISH project will set up expert panels that will be composed of representatives of actors from the entire farm to fork value chain across the EU. The expert panels will have the function to retrieve and share feedback on technology, processes, farming practices, industry, sector regulation and markets, as well as society and perceptions. In this way, stakeholder participation in expert panels could help initiate interdisciplinary dialogue, promote interaction with target groups and associations, and strengthen trust between different actors.

2. Useful Information

2.1 Is my participation voluntary and what does it involve?

Your participation in the aWISH project is entirely voluntary. If you decide to participate in an aWISH activity, we will ask you to sign an Informed Consent Form to collect and process your data. The project will last 48 months, but you will only participate for as long as you wish.

2.2 Purpose of personal data collection

As mentioned above, the expert panel will have the function to retrieve and share feedback on technology, processes, farming practices, industry, sector regulation and markets, as well as society and perceptions. In order to do this effectively, we need to process some of your personal data:
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  • Professional information (where do you work, what position do you hold, what is your area of expertise)
  • Personal opinions on the subject

2.3 What we will do with your data

The information you provide is confidential. Your consent form will be kept separate from the observations collected during the course of the project activity. We will share your data with other aWISH project partners involved in the data analysis and reporting process. Once the data is analysed, a report of the findings may be submitted for publication. The project's deliverables that will be derived by this activity will not include your personal data or any other information that could identify you. The results of this project activity may also be shared with representatives of the European Union (e.g. the Project Officer evaluating the project's or the reviewing EU agencies). Only broad trends will be reported and it will not be possible to identify any individuals.

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4. Contact Information

Partner name: WHITE RESEARCH SRL
e-mail: akyriakidis@white-research.eu

5. Informed Consent Form

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6. Declaration of Acceptance

I, the undersigned
acknowledge that I have read and agree to be bound by the aWISH Expert Panel Terms of Reference. I agree to participate in the aWISH Expert Panel in my individual capacity and, as such, may not assign or be substituted for any other person to perform the work without prior written agreement with the aWISH Expert Panel Consortium. I agree not to disclose any information given in the course of the Expert Panel’s work unless the aWISH Consortium agrees to releases me from this obligation, and to respects the confidentiality requirements. I declare that I fully and unconditionally accept my appointment as an aWISH Expert Panel member as described in the Terms of Reference. I agree that any contribution I make as an aWISH Expert Panel member may be used by the aWISH consortium for reporting purposes or to align project activities to the needs of relevant stakeholders. I consent to the processing of my personal data necessary for my participation in the aWISH Expert Panel.

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