Papers by Susana Rodriguez
A total of 50 recently weaned Hyla rabbits (5 weeks old) were slaughtered in a commercial abbatoi... more A total of 50 recently weaned Hyla rabbits (5 weeks old) were slaughtered in a commercial abbatoir located 65 km away from the farm they were raised in. Their slaughter weight was determined after 20-30 min of lairage and, afterwards, the rabbits underwent slaughter following the standard procedure (electrical stunning and exsanguination after cutting the vessels of the left side of the throat; 30 rabbits, S group) or the halal muslim procedure (ritual cut of the throat performed by an appropriate person without pre-slaughtering stunning; 20 animals, H group). Some basic animal welfare features around slaughter were evaluated. Rabbits from H group had neither vocalization, spasms or movements during the hanging phase nor after slaughtering. Their bodies remained totally relaxed and floppy on the chain from the beginning. The rabbits from the S group also had not vocalizations or movements before slaughtering and one rabbit of this group arched and flexed its back for a moment after slaughtering. No cases of haemorrhages or broken bones were observed in either group. There were significant differences between groups with regards to the blood losses (calculated by the difference between the animal's weight and the hot carcass weight plus offal), which were higher in the H than in the S group (44.86 g and 37.10 g respectively, P<0.01). The external colour of carcasses, subjectively evaluated, was paler in the H than in the S group. Similar differences in colour were initially found at 0 minutes after transversal cuts of the Longissimus dorsi muscle: more luminous (L*) and yellow (b*) as well as higher h* values in the H group, although the effect was no longer significant after 15 minutes of blooming. The lowest pH 24 values were found in the H group on both the Longisimus dorsi (5.67 vs. 5.78, P<0.05) and the Biceps femoris (5.69 vs. 5.82, P<0.01) muscles. There were no differences in water holding capacity determined on the Biceps femoris muscle. We conclude that under both slaughtering procedures, the parameters studied had normal values for rabbit meat and correct for meat in general.
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Papers by Susana Rodriguez