Medycyna Wet. 67 (10), 690-694, 2011
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| Szkucik K., Paszkiewicz W. |
| Morbid traits and qualitative changes in rabbits slaughtered in Poland between 2000 – 2010 |
| The aim of the study was to analyze the results of post mortem examinations on slaughtered rabbits conducted in the years 2000 – 2010 by the national Veterinary Inspection in rabbit slaughterhouses in Poland. During the studied period over 5.6 million rabbits were slaughtered. In 280,686 carcasses quality changes on account of morbidity occurred, which constitutes 4.94% of the examined carcasses. Of these carcasses 59,428 were considered unfit for consumption, i.e. 21.17%, and 1.05% of all carcasses, which were examined after slaughter. The most common diseases confirmed were parasitic invasions, primarily coccidia (65.13%). However, the most common reasons for considering carcasses as unfit for consumption were bacterial diseases (sepsis and pyemia – 34.93%) as well as coccidiosis (28.96%). The most frequent qualitative changes of rabbit carcasses were excessive thinness (2%) or insufficient bloodlessness (1.64% of the confirmed changes). All of the carcasses in which these changes have been confirmed were considered unfit for consumption. Starting from 2006 the percentage of carcasses in which post-slaughter changes were confirmed has systematically decreased, while from 2008 the same concerns carcasses unfit for consumption. At the same time, the percentage of carcasses considered unfit for consumption from among the animals with confirmed qualitative changes after post-slaughter examination decidedly increased. This proves the good health of the rabbit population raised for slaughter in Poland, as well as its proper sanitary-veterinary control , which guarantees the high quality of the meat gained from it. |
| Keywords: rabbits, post mortem examination, morbidity, qualitative changes |