Service Group Abattoir & Meat Research

The Service Group provides expertise and scientific knowledge regarding carcass and meat quality analyses of farm animal and aquaculture species. The service is available for all working groups of the FBN as well as for external scientific collaborators.

The group builds on a history of almost 60 years. The experimental abattoir was constructed in the 1960ies a part of the former Meat Research Unit of the research institute. This allowed standardized slaughter and carcass dissection of farm animal species. Effects of feeding, housing and genotype on primary carcass traits like cut weights and tissue composition were in the focus of research.

The former abattoir was developed to a high performance, scientific service group providing expertise and knowledge regarding many aspects of meat research. Highly qualified staff applies modern equipment and methods for an in-depth analysis of body composition and meat quality and provides standardized sampling for a variety of scientific topics of all FBN working groups. Meat research laboratories with advanced analytical methods are available on-site. The service group permanently develops their own methodic expertise and adapts analytical procedures according to experimental requirements of the working groups. Thus, the service group contributes to the deep phenotyping strategy for experimental animals at the FBN.

The abattoir is certified according to EEC regulations for slaughter of cattle, small ruminants, pigs, and poultry. Furthermore, a QS certificate (Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH) was assigned to the abattoir and it is member of the federal initiative "Tierwohl" (Animal Welfare; Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Tierwohls in der Nutztierhaltung mbH).