Chicken and Duck Slaughtering / Mechanical Slaughtering

Pre-slaughter

Live birds shall be kept in humane and congenial conditions. The environment shall be stress-free and birds below the usual Australian set standard shall not be slaughtered.

Pre-slaughter stunning may be carried out to render the birds momentarily unconscious. The range of amperage and voltage should be just enough to facilitate the religiously correct bleeding (completion) process.

Slaughterman shall from time to time test the reversibility of the stunning by not slaughtering a bird to demonstrate the capacity of the bird to regain consciousness if not slaughtered.

To remove the feathers and clean the bird, the temperature of scalding should be controlled as per specification (higher temperature would disintegrate and make the birds contaminated and lower temperature may not be effective).

The Slaughtering Requirements and Procedures

Primary Conditions:

1. The slaughterman must be a Muslim approved by ANIC.
2. There must be an intention of Tasmiyah (Bismillah) before slaughtering.
3. Recitation of Tasmiyah should be done whenever the switch on the mechanical rotary blade.
4. In the act of slaughter, the trachea, oesophagus and major blood vessels in the neck region (jugular and carotid) of the bird must be severed leaving the spinal cord intact.
5. Any missing bird from the mechanical blade must be slaughtered manually while reciting Tasmiyah.
6. The entire halal slaughtering operation will be carried out in the presence of Muslim slaughtermen/supervisor.
7. A Halal Quality Assurance Officer nominated by ANIC is to be appointed to ensure an ongoing overall halal status of the accredited plants and products is maintained daily during the period of halal accreditation.

Secondary Conditions:

1. After hanging on the chain, birds/chickens are passed through cold electrified water to swoon them at a specified frequency and voltage. The voltage should be between 42-50 volts depending on the size of the birds to be slaughtered. More voltage may kill the birds and less may not be effective.
2. Switch on/off the electrical connection to the stunner immediately prior to or at the cease of the operation and/or breakdown.
3. Adjust the height of the stunner and to ensure that the birds are not drowned in water during even momentary cease of operation or due to mechanical breakdown – should target the number of birds to die in the stunner to be “ZERO”.
4. Adjust the birds in the hanger.
5. Sharpen hand knife every 5-10 minutes interval or as required.
6. Check reversibility of birds being stunned approximately every 5-10 minutes interval.
7. Adjust the height of the mechanical knife according to the size of the birds being hanged.
8. Must stop the operation in case of emergency (eg. too many birds are missing the blade or not properly slaughtered etc.) and contact the halal quality assurance officer or the production manager immediately.

Responsibility of Halal Quality Assurance Officer/Supervisor

1. Ensure adequacy of slaughtermen present in each shift per day and assist in slaughtering operation in case of shortages of man power.
2. Provide necessary arrangements/facilities for offering prayers (salats) at their appointed time.
3. Ensure and maintain sharpness of both slaughtering knives (hand and mechanical).
4. Ensure bleeding process of each bird is adequate by periodic visual examination.
5. Ensure safety and hygiene of the halal operation and the personnel in each shift.
6. Ensure, arrange and rotate responsibility of each slaughterman in each shift at beginning and/or during operation as required.
7. Assist in nomination process of new halal slaughtermen and if found suitable, provide halal information and requirements regarding halal killing during induction and training.
8. Ensure quality of halal operation in each production day.
9. Check scalding temperature as per specification.
10. Check the stunning amperage and voltage at PLC and adjust according to the size of the birds as per halal specifications.
11. Assist the entire operation relevant only to halal killing, production, procurement of raw materials, further processing and distribution.
12. Report to the site manager/QA manager/sales manager/production manager as deemed appropriate on a regular basis.
13. Contact ANIC in case of non-compliance of halal operation and to seek advice for taking corrective measures.

Stunning Animals Prior to Slaughtering

Stunning Cattle

ANIC does not recommend stunning of animals before slaughter, however, if stunning is applied it should be supervised by ANIC’s approved slaughtermen/halal inspectors to make sure that the animal only receives head stunning to render it temporally unconscious.

The animal must be able to regain consciousness, if need be, before the halal cut is made. The halal cut is to be made within 3 and 30 seconds after stunning.

Cattle Stun Area

1. 1. All personnel performing stunning on the large stock slaughter chain must follow the requirements of electric and mushroom gun stunners.
   2. A mushroom stunner is used to stun the cattle. A low charge cartridge is used for effective stunning but will also prevent excessive skull breakage. This is monitored during production by a Muslim halal checker, slaughter floor supervisor and quality assurance staff on slaughter floor.
   3. The mushroom stunner used must comply with the religious slaughter requirements. The stunning must be reversible, not fatal, and the death must be solely because of the ritual Muslim slaughter (that is blood loss from halal sticking and not due to the stunning process or technique.
   4. Penetrative stun is not allowed.
   5. The process of stunning must be supervised by a Muslim checker/supervisor.

1. All stunning is performed by personnel relevantly trained and skilled in the correct stunning techniques to ensure that animals are rendered insensible until death without suffering.
2. Only approved operators who have been assessed competent will stun the animals, except in the case of an emergency when any competent person may stun the animal.
3. The stunning operator will ensure that the stunner is applied to the correct position on the animal’s head.