Meat+Poultry - December 2021 - 67

CAS the most welfare friendly method to
anesthetize birds currently available.
Baader Poultry USA/Canada, Auburn,
Wash., offers CAS systems integrated into
its UniLoad live bird handling system, with
a focus on animal welfare. Baader designed
the system to improve the quality of birds and
optimize throughput for processing facilities.
The UniLoad system utilizes big drawer
openings to allow a gentler loading of birds
with fewer human interactions.
" Birds remain in the transport drawers
from catching to shackling, causing less bird
stress and fewer injuries, " said Oliver Hahn,
chief executive officer for Baader Poultry,
USA/Canada. " The Baader CAS systems
improve meat quality by reducing carcass
quality problems typically found in electrical
stunning such as broken bones, dislocated
joints, bruises and blood spots. Furthermore,
birds are unconscious during shackling which
improves worker welfare. "
Schaik agrees with live, flapping birds
presenting a struggle for operators on the
shackle line. In addition to better bird
quality, unconscious birds also contribute
to higher quality and more efficient work
from employees.
" They can comfortably hang more birds
per hour, which they can also shackle more
accurately, " Schaik said. " There is scope for
eliminating damage to birds during hanging.
CAS reduces the risk of damage to connective
tissue and blood vessels still further, as
the technology does not involve passing
current through the bird. CAS stuns all birds
uniformly and irreversibly. "
The benefit to those employees that hang
birds also provides an additional benefit to
processors. Because hangers will work with
limp and unconscious birds, a much calmer
and overall easier task, fewer hangers will be
needed on the line. These improved working
conditions will also make recruitment more
straightforward.
For a processor to move from electric
stunning to a CAS system is a significant,
but potentially valuable long-term capital
expenditure. CAS systems bring a larger
price tag, bigger footprint, they cost more to
operate, and they require a major installation.
" Switching from electric to gas stunning
is a valuable investment, " Hahn said. " The
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Baader CAS Systems reduce broken wings
and eliminate bruises and blood spots
resulting in more A-Grade quality birds. "
" Vastly improved animal well-being,
the main advantage of CAS, is difficult to
quantify, " Schaik said. " It will certainly
burnish a processor's image and is
increasingly likely to be a condition for
obtaining business from some QSR chains.
Concrete returns on investment will come
from reduced downgrades, as damage to
product during stunning and hanging will be a
lot less. Yield and quality will both benefit. "
ALL SYSTEMS GO
Early CAS systems were based on different
gasses or mixtures of gasses, some containing
CO2 and some not containing CO2. Today's
commercial systems are mostly based on
controlling the CO2 intake within a certain
timeframe.
Baader offers two CAS systems, a
below ground and an above ground. Both
incorporate the principle of controlling the
CO2 intake.
The below-ground system gradually
lowers drawers into a pit where the CO2
concentration progressively increases
through steps to create a gentle and
Above ground CAS
systems have a bigger
footprint, but are easier
to install and maintain.
Meat+Poultry - December 2021

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