Table 2.
Experiment 2: effect of stunning method (head-only or back-of-the-head electrodes) on insensibility to thermal laser pain, behavioural indices, current and voltage.
| Stun method |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head-only | Back-of-the-head | Significance | |
| Number of birds | 28 | 9 | - |
| Birds with physical response within 5 min, % | 36% (n = 10) | 0% (n = 0) | P = 0.079 |
| Mean (± SE) time to return of physical response (range), s | 83 ± 30 (9–32) | 0 | - |
| Mean (± SE) time to return of rhythmic breathing (range)1, s | 33 ± 4 (20–70) | 40 ± 4 (26–58) | P = 0.107 |
| Mean (± SE) time of return of neck tension (range)1, s | 79 ± 10 (45–132) | 100 ± 10 (69–156) | P = 0.098 |
| Mean (± SE) time of return of balance (range)1, s | 153 ± 16 (77–226) | 279 ± 13 (210–306) | P = 0.002 |
| Mean (± SE) peak current (range), mA | 502 ± 48 (250–920) | 589 ± 50 (420–910) | P = 0.167 |
| Mean (± SE) peak voltage (range), V | 132 ± 2 (110–143) | 128 ± 1 (121–130) | P = 0.091 |
1 Behavioural data only available for 19 birds (10 head-only; 9 back-of-the-head).