Lairage
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Livestock reception area
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Roofed to protect animals and staff, particularly during identification, handling and sorting of stock.
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The off-loading dock should be about 1.2 m high to permit careful offloading, especially of stock carried on upper tiers of Lorries. The slope should not be more than 30o.
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A suitable office for reception area staff is essential for maintaining slaughter records.
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Sufficient room should be allowed for manoeuring and temporary parking.
- The entry point to the meat plant for livestock should have a display board containing ‘All stock must be handled gently and quietly’.
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Irregularities in transportation can be noted at the reception area and the appropriate action taken.
Facilities
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The ramps must slope up rather than down.
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Drain inlets in the centres of passageways should be avoided.
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Sharp corners should be avoided and projections of any kind and gates should preferably be placed at the end, not in the middle of the pen side.
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The horizontal bars should be correctly spaced to prevent strangulation if tubular partitions are used.
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Strident voice and noises, dark objects (especially if these are moving), sudden movements of personnel, drain openings in the centres of passage was sharp corners, etc., are contraindicated.
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The final drive races should have solid sides, non-slip floor surfaces and lighting to encourage the animals to go forward.
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In larger plants it is necessary to have two single-line crushes for cattle to allow for stock movement so that an animal fall in one race.
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Side gates should be installed to handle such emergencies and also to provide escape gates for personnel in the drive race when they are confronted with wild animals.
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The length of the final race is determined by the overall throughput of the meat plant.
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In a large plant this race can be 36 m long, with stop gates to prevent the animals going backwards, 80 cm wide, and reach to about waist height.
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Catwalks must be provided alongside the race to enable handlers to control stock movement, check identification etc.
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Gates located in the drive race and sliding or one-way gates in the single file race should be made of expanded metal or closely spaced bars to enable the animals to see through them.
- Constant vigilance is requiredto ensure that there is
Ante-mortem (AM) inspection facilities
Pen size
The following pen sizes are recommended for housing of livestock in abattoirs.
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Cattle
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Pigs
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Sheep and goats
A further 30% - added for reception areas and passageways.
Lairage sizes have been calculated to hold one day’s average kill.
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Last modified: Wednesday, 12 October 2011, 4:27 AM