Abattoir Practices and Animal Products Technology

LAIRAGE

• Lairage is a place near to the slaughterhall to give rest prior to slaughter for a period of 6 to 36 hours.
• Period of rest before slaughter has marked beneficial effect on the meat and subsequent marketability of the carcass.
• Consist of pens for live animals.

Livestock reception area

• Roofed to protect animals and staff, particularly during identification, handling and sorting of stock.
• 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 30^o. 
• A suitable office for reception area staff is essential for maintaining slaughter records.
• 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’.
• Irregularities in transportation can be noted at the reception area and the appropriate action taken.

Facilities

• The ramps must slope up rather than down.
• Drain inlets in the centres of passageways should be avoided.
• 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.
• The horizontal bars should be correctly spaced to prevent strangulation if tubular partitions are used.
• 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.
• The final drive races should have solid sides, non-slip floor surfaces and lighting to encourage the animals to go forward.
• 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.
• 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.
• The length of the final race is determined by the overall throughput of the meat plant.
• 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.
• Catwalks must be provided alongside the race to enable handlers to control stock movement, check identification etc.
• Equipment used should be noise-free.
• 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 
  • No bullying by dominant individuals and
  • No females in oestrus. 
  • Horned stock must be kept separate.

Ante-mortem (AM) inspection facilities 

• Ample natural or artificial lighting which is even and diffuse. 
• An isolation pen with a crush for clinical examination of animal.

Pen size 

The following pen sizes are recommended for housing of livestock in abattoirs.

• Cattle 
  • Loose - 2.3-2.8 m² /animal.
  • Tied - 3.25 m² /animal.
• Pigs   
  • Bacon and small porkers - 0.6 m² /animal 
  • Heavy pigs and calves - 0.74 m² /animal 
• Sheep and goats 
  •  0.56 m² /animal

A further 30% - added for reception areas and passageways.

Lairage sizes have been calculated to hold one day’s average kill.