Table 3.
Assessed variables before and after loading.
| Variable | Severity | Assessment method | Type of injury | Location on body | Type of variable | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body weight | n/a | Mettler Toledo ICS425 scale (Mettler Toledo GmbH, Gießen, Germany) | n/a | n/a | Metric | Assessment only of birds of first container |
| Sex | n/a | Phenotypical characteristics | n/a | n/a | Binomial | Female/male |
| Injury | Minor injury | Visual assessment | Hematoma (≥0.5 cm in diameter) | Wing (broilers with ≥1 HoWI; including HoWIT and HoWIpWIT) | Binomial | Occurrence yes/no; on either wing, left or right; any location on the wing |
| Wing tip (broilers with ≥1 HoWIT) | Binomial | Occurrence yes/no; on either wing, left or right | ||||
| Wing proximal to wing tip (broilers with ≥1 HoWIpWIT) | Binomial | Occurrence yes/no; on either wing, left or right | ||||
| Torso (broilers with ≥1 HoBODY) | Binomial | Occurrence yes/no | ||||
| Leg (broilers with ≥1 HoLEG) | Binomial | Occurrence yes/no; on either leg, left or right | ||||
| Severe injury | Visual assessment and palpation; pathologic examination after diagnosis via palpation | Fracture (including epiphysiolysis, EPIoH) or luxation | Wing (broilers with ≥1 SWI) | Binomial | Occurrence yes/no; on either wing, left or right | |
| Epiphysiolysis (total separation fracture of the distal humeral epiphysis) | Wing (broilers with ≥1 EPIoH) | Binomial | Occurrence yes/no; on either wing, left or right1 |
Number of assessed broilers per loading: 200 before loading, on average 478 after mechanical, on average 482 after manual loading; all broilers were randomly selected, broilers assessed before and after loading were not necessarily the same animals.
Abbreviations: EPIoH, epiphysiolysis on humerus; HoWI, hematoma on wing (including HoWIT and HoWIpWIT); HoWIT, hematoma on wing tip; HoWIpWIT, hematoma on wing proximal to wing tip; HoBODY, hematoma on body; HoLEG, hematoma on leg; n/a = not applicable.; SWI, severe wing injury
1
During assessment, the occurrence of fractures was separately documented for the left and right wing; for analysis, data were used binomially for both sides.