Flock Uniformity is Key in Poultry Processing

By Ing. Fabio G Nunes, Poultry Processing Consultant, Brazil

Flock Uniformity is Key in Technical and Economic Performance

Across the global poultry industry, the interaction between the live production department and the processing plant is ruled by an in-company customer-supplier relationship. Hence, to guarantee the satisfaction of the internal customer – the processing plant, the internal supplier – live production area – must secure the live birds delivered to the plant every day fully comply with the internal customer’s specifications, as to allow for the optimization of the technical, economic, and commercial performance of the plant. Among the many specifications to comply with, the carcasses’ uniformity is one of the most important for the plant.

Introduction

Live production exerts multiple impacts on the live birds – birds’ health, flock management, stocking density, flock thinning, feed withdrawal, catching practices, and transportation – that can directly affect the quality and yield of the live raw material. However, it is the flock uniformity that can influence, for good or for bad, the quality and quantity of the entire flock being processed (Figure 1).

                          Fig. 1: Example of a Flock Uniformity Bell Curve

Executive Summary

Flock uniformity refers to the consistency in size, weight, and overall development of birds within a single flock. A uniform flock is one where most birds are of similar size, weight, and physiological maturity at any given stage of growth. Uniformity is not limited to physical attributes, only; it also encompasses factors like FCR, immunity, and overall health status. High-performing flocks often have 80% or more of birds within the ±10% live weight range.

The optimal uniformity target will vary across companies and plants, and it depends on the amount of product, the product mix being produced (undersized vs. sized, what is the rule across the Middle East countries), and the type and degree of automation used. 

Flock Uniformity in Poultry Processing Operations

The degree of automation of the poultry processing plants has been growing around the world, in the wake of the increasing processing speeds, growing labor shortage and costs, and the crescent demand for more standard-sized chicken products. In such a challenging scenario, the uniformity of the live broilers becomes a key prerequisite for the optimum operational, technical, and economic performance of the plant achievement.  Poor flock uniformity converts the optimal adjustment of the machines into a nightmare, thus reducing the efficiency of the different processes. The reduced efficiency of the processes will be detrimental for the quality, yield, and safety of the final products, thus resulting in increased percentage of grade B carcasses, higher operational costs and lower profitability, and increased risk for consumers, respectively. 

Flock uniformity plays a crucial role across the entire processing floor, from live hanging through the cut-up room. Upon unloading the live birds, the uniform flocks ease and homogenize the live hanging, thus contributing to increasing the accuracy, smoothness and consistency of the electrical stunning as carcasses’ resistance, which depend directly on the live weight, do not vary much across the flock. Likewise, the operation and adjustment of the killing machines for uniform birds allow for a more accurate and consistent neck cutting along the work shifts, thus guaranteeing the animal welfare, reducing the risk of wing damages and poor neck cutting, and contributing to boosting the bleeding. It is worth noting that the accuracy and consistency of the killing and bleeding operations impacts the carcasses presentation and the smoothness and efficacy of the further scalding and plucking. 

Uniform flocks contribute to ease the setting of the scalder dwelling time and temperature, thus contributing to enhance the heat transfer to the follicles and achieving a consistent and thorough scalding of the carcasses. Efficient scalding is a crucial prerequisite for a smooth and effective de-feathering of the carcasses, which, by its turn, prevents physical damage and fecal contamination to the carcasses from occurring.  

At the transferring unit from the scalding and plucking line onto the evisceration line uniform carcasses are moved in a smoother and more precise way, and with much less manual re-hanging, and associated labor demand and costs, when compared to transferring nonuniform broilers. The feet removal, concomitant to the transfer, results likely smoother, more precise and consistent, hence preserving the carcasses’ yield and presentation while minimizing the risk of broken hocks. 

Flock uniformity in Poultry Throughput

The higher the flock uniformity the easier it is to adjust the evisceration line machines and, therefore, the lower the incidence of damaged and contaminated carcasses, and the loss of edible giblets along the process. It is worth noting that all those aforementioned imperfections resulting from the nonuniform carcasses vs. poor machine performance interaction are subjected to salvage and condemnation by the inspection authorities, bringing significant economic losses to the company. 

The speed and consistency of either water or air chilling depends hardly on the mass, the weight, of the carcasses. Therefore, water or air chilling of uniform flocks allow for shorter chilling cycle, homogeneous temperature descending, and greater carcass’ core temperature consistency. Altogether, it lowers the operational cost, for saving energy and water, enhances the water retention, in case of water chilling, increases the safety of the products, and speeds up the further cooling or freezing of the final products! 

When sizing carcasses for (cutup and) further processing lines, small birds will not fit into a value-added product line. Therefore, high uniformity allows plants to produce more of the higher value products. For the same reason is superior the accuracy and consistency of the cutting and boning operations, thus resulting in either bone-in and boneless parts of better presentation, quality, and yield. 

Furthermore, uniform flocks result in a higher proportion of whole carcasses and parts falling within the optimum commercial weight range, therefore maximizing the saleable weight of commercial products, while minimizing the percentage of off-range products, whose lower commercial value reduces their market prices by about 40%, impacting the profitability of the company. Last, but not least, for boosting the overall plant productivity, broilers’ uniformity pulls operational costs down and business profitability and competitiveness up!     

Final Conclusion

Flock uniformity is not taken for granted, though! It is the outcome of an orchestrated, fine-tuned teamwork embracing multiple areas – parent stock, hatchery, and broiler farms – performed with a single common goal in mind – optimizing the flock uniformity. The outcome of this teamwork needs to be periodically validated by monitoring, as often as possible, the carcasses’ weight distribution at the plant every day. The daily weight bell curve obtained at the plant is then forwarded to the live production team to support the fine tuning the next flocks’ management. Only by continuously and endlessly spinning the uniformity PDCA is that the companies will gradually achieve and maintain the desired level of uniformity of its flocks.

* Literature available from author upon request