Abattoir Design and Construction

Abattoir Design Guidelines [email protected] Page 1

ABATTOIR DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

A modern abattoir should have essential components like lairage, ante mortem examination facility,

stunning section, humane slaughter facility, facility for flaying, dressing and washing of the carcasses,

postmortem inspection section, veterinary office and laboratory, facility for handling byproducts,

rendering and effluent treatment plant. The guiding principle for designing abattoir is to provide all

related services under hygienic conditions. The essential facilities required in any abattoir are as

follows:

1. Livestock receiving area: It is the area where animals are received. Receiving area must have

watering, feeding and animal inspection facilities. Animals are to be inspected by a Veterinarian.

Healthy animals are sent to lairage while sick and injured animals are to be sent to isolation pen.

2. Lairage: Place where animals are provided rest before slaughter. Rest is to be provided up to 24

hours to overcome the physiological stress involved in transportation of animals. Sheep have to

be kept off feed up to 12 hours before slaughter in lairage to reduce the gut contents thereby

reducing the chances of contamination during dressing of carcasses. Space requirement for

lairaging of sheep is 0.6 m2 per animal.

3. V race: It is the pathway that connects lairage with the slaughter hall. Length of the V race can

be up to 36 m. Pathway will be tapering with width of 50 cm and 80 cm in bottom and at the top

respectively.

4. Slaughter hall: Premises where stunning, bleeding and dressing of carcasses takes place in the

abattoir. Animal need to be stunned before slaughter for painless killing. To ensure proper and

safe stunning a restrainer has to be provided which will hold the animals firmly while stunning.

Stunning will be followed by bleeding which has to be done on a bleeding trough of 1.1 to 1.2 m

width for small ruminants. Dressing of the animals has to be done on rail for ensuring hygiene.

Height of the overhead rails has to be about 2.7 m at bleeding area and 2.3 m at dressing area.

5. Tripe and gut room: Space for cleaning of stomach and intestine. Proper water supply and

provision for disposal of gastro intestinal contents has to be provided at the tripe room.

6. Byproduct store room: Space for storing fat, skins, head and feet.

7. Offal room: Place for trimming and storing of liver, lungs, kidneys etc.

8. Isolation pen: Place for accommodating sick or suspect animals.

9. Chilling room: For chilling of carcasses after dressing. Temperature maintained in carcass store

room will be 70 C and that of offal will be at 30 C.

10. Cutting room: Room where carcasses are cut into cutup parts/ retail packs and packed as per

consumer requirement. Temperature maintained at cutting room will 100 C.

11. Freezer room: Storage of packaged meat at 17 to 200 C till dispatch.

12. Veterinary room: Section for Veterinarians who undertake ante and post mortem of animals.

13. Changing room: For changing dress of slaughterhouse personnel.

14. Effluent Treatment Plant: Facility for treating the effluent generated from an abattoir before

releasing to drainage or reuse or using for irrigation.


15. Emergency slaughter hall: This is the miniature abattoir for lairaging and harvesting of

diseased and suspect animals

16. Compound area: Whole slaughterhouse premises must be completely compounded along with

plantation across the boundaries.

17. Electrical & generator room: To ensure supply of adequate electricity in the plant.

18. Toilets Adequate toilet facility is required to maintain hygiene (@ One/ 25 persons).

19. Office room

20. Security

21. Water storage sumps: Sumps for storing the required quantity of water for adequate and

timely supply of water.

22. Parking: For parking vehicles transporting animals, meat and the personnel.

In general the following basic guidelines should receive serious considerations.

1. A clear-cut separation between clean and unclean sections

2. There should be only forward flow of operation without any possibility of reversal

3. Building floor should be made up of easily cleanable and non slippery material.

4. Walls should have white ceramic tiles to promote sanitation and light reflection

5. Buildings should have efficient drainage and the drain should have effluent flow in opposite

direction from edible product flow

6. Open windows should be screened

7. In modern abattoirs, overhead rail system ensures the basic requirements of hygienic conditions

during slaughter and dressing

Model of slaughterhouse for small ruminants


Design of loading facilities and holding pens

T. Grandin

Animal Science Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 (U.S.A.)

Abstract

Grandin, T., 1990. Design of loading facilities and holding pens. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 28: 187-201.

Holding pens and loading facilities are used in abattoirs, saleyards, stockyards, and sorting facilities.

Long, narrow pens are recommended where animals enter through one end and leave through the

other. Constructing the pens on a 60-80 angle eliminates sharp 90 corners. Flooring in holding pens

should be non-slip. Indoor holding pens should have even, diffuse lighting that minimizes shadows.

Cattle, pigs and sheep have a tendency to move more easily from a dimly illuminated area to a more

brightly illuminated area. Facilities should be designed to minimize excessive noise.

In large facilities more than one unloading ramp may be required to facilitate prompt unloading.

During warm weather prompt unloading is essential because heat rapidly builds up in a stationary

vehicle. Ideally, holding pens should be built at truck height to eliminate ramps.

The maximum recommended angle for adjustable ramps for cattle, pigs, and sheep is 25 . Twenty

degrees is the maximum recommended angle for non-adjustable ramps. For pigs, 15 is

recommended. Ramps should have a level dock at the top equal to one animal body length.

Stairsteps are recommended on concrete ramps. Recommended dimensions are a 30 cm minimum

tread width and a 10 cm rise for cattle, and a 25 cm tread width and 5 cm rise for slaughter weight

pigs. Both loading and unloading ramps should have solid fences. The crowd pen that leads to the

ramp should also have solid sides and it must never be placed on a ramp. Crowd pens must be level.

Single file, curved ramps with solid fences are very efficient for loading cattle onto trucks. Ramps

used for unloading only should be 2.5 to 3-m wide to provide animals with a clear exit off the vehicle.

In Denmark and other Scandinavian countries trucks used for transporting pigs are equipped with a

hydraulic tailgate lift. Well designed holding pens and loading ramps can help reduce bruises and

stress.

Introduction

Holding pens and loading facilities are used in abattoirs, saleyards, stockyards, and sorting facilities.

Well designed facilities will help reduce bruises, stress, and mortality. Bruises and mortality cost the

livestock industry millions of dollars annually (Marshall, 1977; Livestock Conservation Institute,

1988a,b). Stress-related meat quality problems, such as dark cutting (DFD) and pale, soft exudative

(PSE) meat are also very costly (Canadian Meat Council, 1980). Another advantage of good facilities

is an improvement in animal welfare.

The basic principles of design are universal for all facilities but the purpose of the facility will affect

certain parts of its design. For example, American and Australian trucks hold more animals than

trucks in some European countries. This will affect the size of the holding pens. When a holding

facility is designed, space must be allocated for specialized functions such as weighing, sorting,

washing, or checking animal identification. To avoid serious design mistakes, the designer must fully

understand the specific handling requirements of the country or region where the facility will be

located.

Pen Layout


Long, narrow pens are recommended in holding facilities where livestock are held for a relatively

short period of time (Kilgour, 197 1; Grandin, 1980a,b; R. Hoenderken, personal communication, 198

1 ). A major advantage of long, narrow pens is efficient animal movement. Animals enter through one

end and leave through the other. To eliminate 90" corners, the pens can be laid out on a 60-800

angle (Figs. I and 2). Each pen gate should be longer than the width of the alley, so that it opens on

an angle to eliminate the sharp corner (Fig. 1). Figure 2 is an indoor holding yard at a pig abattoir

which slaughters > 5000 pigs day. Long, narrow pens maximize lineal fence length in relation to floor

area. This may help reduce stress (Kilgour, 1978; Grandin, 1980a,b). Cattle and pigs prefer to lie

along the fenceline (Stricklin et al., 1979; Grandin, 1980b). Observations indicate that long, narrow

pens may help reduce fighting (Kilgour, 1976). Government regulations in some countries may

require walkways in between the pens for observation of animals prior to slaughter. The layout

remains the same except that a 1-m-wide walkway is placed between every other pen.

Fig. 1. Long, narrow holding pens, unloading ramps and curved race system for a cattle

abattoir.


Fig. 2. Diagonal holding pens in a large pig abattoir.

Group size

The size of the holding pens required for an abattoir or stockyard is at least partially dictated by size

of the trucks. When small groups of animals are handled, block gates can be used in a long, narrow

pen to keep different groups separated. Minimum space requirements for holding fattened, feedlot

steers for < 24 h are 1.6 m' for hornless cattle and 1. 8 5 m' for horned cattle (Grandin, 1979;

Midwest Plan Service, 1980), and 0.5 M2 for slaughter weight pigs and lambs. During warm weather

pigs require more space. Wild, extensively raised cattle may require additional space. However,

providing too much space may increase stress because wild cattle tend to pace in a holding pen.

There must be adequate space for all animals to lie down.

Mixing

To reduce stress and preserve meat quality, strange animals should not be mixed shortly before

slaughter (Tennessen and Price, 1980; Grandin, 1983; Barton-Gade, 1985). Solid pen walls between

holding pens prevent fighting through the fences (Fig. 2). Solid fences in holding pens are especially

important if wildlife such as deer, elk, or buffalo are handled.

Pigs present some practical problems. In the U.S.A., pigs are transported in trucks with a capacity of

> 200 animals. However, they are fattened in much smaller groups. Observations at U.S. abattoirs;

indicate that mixing 200 pigs from three or four farms resulted in less fighting than mixing 6-40 pigs.

One advantage of the larger group is that an attacked pig has an opportunity to escape. Price and

Tennessen (1981) found a tendency towards more DFD carcasses and hence more stress when small

groups of 7 bulls were mixed, compared with larger groups of 21 bulls.

Pen and alley dimensions


In countries with large trucks, larger pens and wider alleys will be required. Alley and pen widths are

also dictated by the number of animals per hour which must move through the facility (Tables I and

2). To avoid bunching and trampling, 25 m is the maximum recommended length of each holding

pen, unless block gates are installed to keep groups separated. Shorter pens are usually

recommended.

Table I: Pen and alley widths for pig and sheep holding facilities

Animals handled (h1) Pen width (m) Alley width (m)

< 4001 2 1.3

> 4002 3-4.2 2.5-3

1 Or truckloads of less than 80 animals.

2 Or truckloads of more than 150 animals.

Table II: Pen and alley widths for cattle-holding facilities1

Method of driving cattle Pen width (m) Alley width (m)

On foot 3.5-4.2 3

On horseback and on foot N/A 3.5

On horseback N/A 4.2

1 These recommendations apply to most facilities except a few specialized situations where

small numbers of cattle are handled.

2 The alley is too wide for a single person to block cattle turnbacks.

Specialized holding facilities

In Denmark, the design of the pig lairage at the abattoir is very specialized (Fig. 3). Pigs are held in

long, narrow pens equipped with manual push gates. A powered push gate moves pigs up the alley to

the stunner. This system was invented by T. Wichmann of the Danish Meat Research Institute. The

Danes have also developed automated block gates within the long, narrow pens to keep small groups

of 15 pigs in separate groups (Barton-Gade, 1989). When strange bulls are mixed, physical activity

during fighting increases DFD meat. The installation of either steel bars or an electric grid over the

holding pens prevented dark cutting in bulls (Kenny and Tarrant, 1987). These devices prevent

mounting. The electric grid should only be used with animals that have been fattened in pens

equipped with an electric grid. In Sweden and other countries where small numbers of bulls are

fattened, individual pens are recommended at the abattoir (Puolanne and Aalto, 1981). In some

European abattoirs, the holding area consists of a series of single-file races which lead to the stunner.

Bulls are unloaded directly into the races and are kept separated by guillotine gates.


Fig. 3. Danish pig lairage with push gates and a power crowd gate.

Flooring

Holding and loading facilities must have non-slip flooring (Stevens and Lyons, 1977; Grandin, 1983).

For cattle, deep 2.5-cm "V" grooves in a 20 cm square or diamond pattern are recommended. The

deep groove pattern should not be used in living quarters for cattle. In pig holding facilities, the wet

concrete may be imprinted with a stamp made from expanded steel mesh with a 3.8-cm-long opening

(Grandin, 1982).

In abattoirs, concrete slats may be used in livestock holding pens, but the drive alleys should have a

solid concrete floor. Slats or gratings used in pig and sheep facilities should face in the proper

direction. Sheep move more easily when they walk across the slats instead of parallel with them

(Kilgour, 1971; Hutson, 1981 ). Figure 2 shows the correct orientation of slats in holding pens. The

floor appears more solid when the animals walk across the slats. To facilitate animal movement, the

animals must not be able to see light or reflections off water under the slats.

Animals will balk at sudden changes in floor texture or color. Flooring surfaces should be uniform in

appearance and free from puddles (Lynch and Alexander, 1973). In facilities that are washed,

concrete curbs may be installed between the pens to prevent water in one pen from flowing into

another. Drains should be located outside the areas where animals walk. Livestock will balk at drains

or metal plates across an alley (Grandin, 1987). Flooring should not move or jiggle when animals walk

on it. Flooring that moves causes swine to balk (Kilgour, 1988).

Bruise Prevention

Edges with a small diameter such as steel angles and channels will cause severe bruises. Round pipe

posts are recommended and surfaces which come into contact with animals should be smooth and

rounded (Stevens and Lyons, 1977; Grandin, 1980c). Sharp corners should be padded with split tires

or conveyor belting.

All gates should be equipped with tie-backs to prevent them from swinging out into the alley.

Guillotine gates should be counter-weighted and padded on the bottom (Grandin, 1983).


Lighting and Sound Levels

Indoor holding pens and loading facilities should have even, diffuse lighting that minimizes shadows

(Fig. 2). Cattle, pigs, and sheep have a tendency to move more easily from a dimly illuminated to a

more brightly illuminated area (Kilgour, 1971; van Putten and Elshof, 1978; Hitchcock and Hutson,

1979; Grandin, 1982). At night or in enclosed facilities, lamps can be used to attract animals into

trucks or races (Grandin, 1982). The lamps must illuminate the floor and must not shine into the eyes

of approaching animals. Loading ramps must never be pointed into the sun (Vowles, 198 5 ).

Livestock are more likely to balk if they are forced to move towards blinding sunlight. Pigs reared

indoors under artificial illumination preferred to walk up a ramp illuminated at 80 Ix (Phillips et al.,

1987). This was similar to the illumination of their living quarters. A ramp illuminated with less than 5

Ix was avoided. There was also a tendency to avoid an excessively bright ramp illuminated at 1200 Ix

(Phillips et al., 1987).

Livestock have sensitive hearing and they are stressed by excessive noise (Kilgour and de Langen,

1970; Kilgour, 1983). In steel facilities, gate strike posts should have rubber stops to reduce noise. Air

exhausts on pneumatically powered gates should be piped outside (Grandin, 1983). If hydraulics are

used to power gates, the motor and pump should be located away from the animals. Cattle held

overnight in a noisy yard close to the unloading ramp were more active and had greater bruising

compared with cattle held in a quiet pen (Eldridge, 1988).

Unloading and Loading Layout

In large stockyards, sale yards, or abattoirs more than one loading or unloading ramp is usually

required to facilitate prompt loading or unloading. During warm weather, prompt unloading is

essential because heat rapidly builds up in stationary vehicles.

In some facilities, unloading pens (Fig. I ) will be required. These pens enable animals to be unloaded

promptly prior to sorting, weighing, or identification checking. After one or more procedures are

performed the animals move to a holding pen.

Loading dock height varies depending on the types of vehicles used. If vehicle heights vary by a few

centimeters, construction of nonadjustable ramps is recommended, even with the lowest vehicles

used. This will enable the crossover bridge that is attached to the higher vehicles to be used more

effectively.

Width

Facilities used for unloading only should be 2.5-3 in wide to provide the animals with a clear exit to

the alley (Fig. I) (Grandin, 19 80d). The recommended width for facilities used to load livestock into a

truck varies depending on vehicle type. A vehicle with a tailgate that opens up to the full width of the

vehicle can be loaded with a ramp the same width as the vehicle. The large trucks used in North

America usually have a door which is just wide enough to admit cattle in single-file or pigs and sheep

double-file. A single-file loading ramp for cattle should be 76 cm wide. For pigs and sheep, a ramp 86

cm wide will enable 2 animals to walk up side by side. A partition down the middle of the ramp

improves efficiency because it prevents the pigs from turning around (Grandin, 1987) (Figs. 4 and 5).

The partition is made from "see through" wire mesh to promote following. It is a serious design

mistake to make a ramp or race 1 1/2 animal wide. This will result in jamming. Recommended widths

for single-file ramps used by slaughter weight pigs and sheep will vary from 3 5 to 43 cm depending

on animal size.


Ramp slope

Ideally a holding facility should be built at truck deck level to eliminate ramps (Fig. 3). Sheep move

most easily on a level surface (Hitchcock and Hutson, 1979). Many animals are injured on excessively

steep ramps. The recommended maximum angle for cattle and sheep ramps is 25 for adjustable

ramps which are raised to the second or third deck of a truck (Grandin, 1979). For fattened slaughter

weight pigs a 15 angle is recommended (van Putten, 1981 ). The maximum angle for nonadjustable

livestock ramps is 20 (Grandin, 1979). A pig's heart rate increases with the angle of the ramp (van

Putten and Elshof, 1978), and is faster when the pig is climbing than when it is descending a ramp

(Mayes and Jesse, 1980). Excessively steep ramps were avoided by pigs in a preference test: 20-24

ramps were preferred to 28-32 ramps (Fraser et al., 1986; Phillips et al., 1988). To reduce the

possibility of falls, ramps should have a flat dock at the top. This provides a level surface for animals

to walk on when they first step off the truck (Stevens and Lyons, 1977; Grandin, 1979; Agriculture

Canada, 1984). The level dock should have a minimum width of one animal body length. A self-

aligning dock bumper will help prevent injuries caused by an animal stepping down between the truck

and the dock (Rider et al., 1974). Telescoping side gates are also recommended to block the gap. To

facilitate entry from the crowd pen into a single-file ramp there should be a level section of race equal

to one animal body length at the junction between the ramp and the crowd pen.

Fig. 4. Crowd pen and ramp system for loading pigs onto trucks that have a narrow

entrance door.


Fig. 5. The "see through" partition promotes following. The outer fences of this loading

ramp are solid.

Ramp surface

Stairsteps are recommended on concrete ramps. Stairsteps are easier to walk on after the ramp

becomes worn or dirty. However, in new clean facilities, small pigs expressed no preference between

stairsteps or closely spaced cleats (Phillips et al., 1987). The movements in this experiment were

voluntary.

Recommended dimensions for stairsteps are a 30 cm minimum tread width and a 10 cm rise for

cattle, and a 2 5 cm tread width and a 5 cm rise for slaughter weight pigs (U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA), 1967; Grandin, 1980c, 1982). The steps should be grooved to provide a non-slip

surface. When cleats are used, they should be spaced 20 cm apart for large cattle and slaughter

weight pigs (Mayes, 1978). The 20 cm is measured from the beginning of one cleat to the beginning

of the next cleat. For small, 16 kg pigs, maximum cleat spacing is 10 cm apart (Phillips et al., 1987).

Spacing the cleats 5 cm apart improved traction. During a choice test, small pigs readily walked up

steep ramps with the narrower spacing (Phillips et al., 1990). Possibly, the 20 cm spacing

recommended by Mayes ( 1978) for slaughter weight pigs should be decreased. On outdoor ramps

that become covered with ice, closely spaced cleats may be more likely to become slick.

Curved ramps and solid fences

Curved single-file ramps are especially recommended for loading cattle onto a truck (Figs. 6 and 7)

(Rider et al., 1974; Grandin, 1980a). A curved ramp with an inside radius of 5 m will work well for

both loading and unloading. A shorter radius is not recommended if the ramp is going to be used for

unloading. The curve must be laid out as shown in Fig. 6. If the ramp is bent too sharply at the

junction between the single-file race and the crowd pen it will appear as a dead end. This will cause

livestock to balk (Grandin, 1987). Handler walkways should run alongside the ramp and crowd pen

(Grandin, 1987). Overhead walkways should be avoided.


For all species, solid sides are recommended on both the ramp and the crowd pen which leads to the

loading ramp (Rider et al., 1974; Brockway, 1977; Grandin, 1980a,b, 1982; Vowles et al., 1984). For

operator safety, mangates must be constructed so that people can escape charging cattle. The crowd

gate should also be solid to prevent animals from turning back. Wild animals tend to be calmer in

facilities with solid sides. In holding pens, solid pen gates along the main drive alley facilitate animal

movement (Fig. 2) (Grandin, 1980b).

When young pigs were given a choice of ramps, they preferred a ramp with either solid or woven

wire sides (Phillips et al., 1987). Ramps with vertical or horizontal barred sides were avoided. The

overhead lighting used in the indoor experiment may have made the wire mesh appear solid.

Crowd pen design

The crowd pen used to direct animals into a single- or double-file ramp must never be built on the

ramp. A sloping crowd pen will cause livestock to pile up against the crowd gate (Grandin, 1979). The

round crowd pens shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are very efficient for all species. The recommended

radius for round crowd pens is 3.5 m for cattle, 1.83 m for pigs and 2.4 m for sheep.

Fig. 6. Curved, cattle loading ramp with a round crowd pen. A double row of long, narrow

holding pens is constructed on both sides of a central alley.

Cattle and sheep crowd pens should have one straight fence and the other fence should be on a 30

angle (Meat and Livestock Commission). This layout should not be used with pigs as they will jam at

the ramp entrance. Jamming is very stressful for pigs (van Putten and Elshof, 1978). A single, offset

step equal to the width of one pig should be used to prevent jamming at the entrance of a single-file

ramp (Grandin, 1982, 1987). Jamming can be further prevented by installing an entrance restrictor at

single-file race entrances. The entrance of the single-file race should provide only 0.5 cm on each

side of each pig. The double-race ramp in Fig. 4 also has a single offset step to prevent jamming.


Ramps for double deck trucks

The best adjustable ramps have a level dock which moves up and down (Grandin, 1980d). The ramp

must be mounted on rollers so that it will not pull away from the truck when it is raised. The best

design for an adjustable ramp is one where the floor and side walls move up and down as a single

unit (Grandin, 1979). This design eliminates space between a moving floor and the sides where

animals' feet may be caught. This is especially a problem in single-file ramps. Double-deck trucks can

also be loaded or unloaded with stationary "over and under" ramps. Animals can be moved onto both

truck decks at the same time (G.J. Lapworth, personal communication, 1988).

Fig. 7. A round crowd pen with solid fences leads up to a curved ramp for loading cattle.

Tailgate lift

In Denmark and other Scandinavian countries, trucks used for transporting pigs are equipped with

hydraulic tailgate lifts (Fig. 8 )'. The tailgate lift has a folding fence and gates. The use of ramps is

eliminated. This system works well in countries where < 100 pigs are transported in each truck. Many

trucks in England and Ireland have a tailgate that folds down to form a ramp. Many of these ramps

are excessively steep (Weyman, 1987). Livestock loading and unloading could be greatly improved in

these countries if stationary unloading platforms were built on farms, abattoirs, and stockyards.

Lowering the tailboard down onto a 40-cm-high platform would reduce the angle.


Fig. 8. In Denmark, trucks are equipped with a tailgate lift for loading and unloading pigs.

Conclusion

Well designed loading and holding facilities will help to reduce stress and injuries to livestock.

Facilities that incorporate principles of livestock behavior will be more efficient.

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