Olymel New CO2 bird anaesthesia system installed.

The work, which will start in December, should be completed by the fall of 2018 and includes the construction of a new building designed for receiving birds and conducting CO₂ anaesthesia,as well as the addition of new equipmentfor the operation of this new slaughtering method and other stages of production.

The CO₂ bird anaesthesia system offers multiple advantages. First of all, it improves animal  welfare  by  reducing  bird stress,  in particular due to a 40% larger crate. Reduced bird stress also helps to avoid  injuries, consequently improving the quality of the meat. This system does not require changes to farm buildings. In addition, one of the great features of CO₂ anaesthesia is  that it significantly improves the working environment for employees assigned to slaughtering, who will work in an area with better lighting and air conditioning, as well as far less dust. Finally, the installation of this system will also increase the plant’s production capacity in terms of volume.

The  CO₂ anaesthesia  system that Olymel has chosen meets the industry’s highest  standards for  animal welfare. The  company intends to implement the same  slaughtering method by 2019 at its other primary poultry  processing plants in St-Damase,  Montérégie  and  Clair, New Brunswick. The latter is jointly owned with the Westco Group, one of the largest poultry producers in Canada.

In 2011, Olymel installed the same type of CO₂ anaesthesia system for turkeys at its  St-Jean-Baptiste-de-Rouville turkey plant in Montérégie, jointly owned with Exceldor (Olymel 68% -Exceldor 32%).

Olymel's Berthierville poultry processing plant in Lanaudière specializes in chicken slaughtering, cutting and deboning, and has a weekly capacity of nearly one million birds. The plant employs more than 425 people. The  majority  of  its  production  consists  of  fresh  products,  such  as Trussed chickens  for  rotisseries  and various cuts. The plant also supplies other Olymel further processing plants with fresh poultry meat.