English Government Proposes Changes on Gas Stunning

Proposals have been put forward to allow the use of a biphasic carbon dioxide gas mixture to kill poultry in slaughterhouses.

The proposals are part of amendments to the The Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 (WASK), which have been sent out for consultation in the industry by the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The amendments also include provisions to extend the range of birds that may be killed on-farm by gas mixtures and extend the time limit for bringing a prosecution under WASK.

The changes to the legislation and the consultation only apply to the industry in England.

Defra said that the proposal to amend WASK will be primarily of interest to poultry slaughterhouse operators, poultry and egg producers and animal welfare organisations.

In the US, a representative of the National Chicken Council has told Congress that family farmers and chicken companies alike have been hit hard by the skyrocketing price and short supply of corn.

Harrison Poultry chief executive, Michael Welch, told the Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee of the House Committee on Agriculture: "USDA's report earlier this week confirmed that it will be much more difficult this crop year to secure an adequate supply of feed ingredients that can be procured at a cost that is both manageable and predictable.

"The more than 40 vertically integrated chicken companies that comprise the broiler industry have financially struggled for the past four calendar quarters. Broiler companies have increasingly been squeezed throughout the past corn crop year between rising feed costs and declining prices for chicken products. A number of companies have succumbed to the severe cost/price squeeze by ceasing operations or having to sell their assets at fire-sale values."

Representatives of other sectors of the livestock industry also took the opportunity to address the Subcommittee, telling a similar story.

And finally, turning to poultry diseases, Cambodia has reported a single outbreak of H5N1 highly pathogenic bird flu in village flocks in August. Poultry keepers in the Australian state of Victoria have been warned to be on the alert for signs of avian paramyxovirus (PMV1), which has spread in pigeons from hobby flocks to racing pigeons.