Behavioural and physiological reactions of cattle in a commercial abattoir: Relationships with organisational aspects of the abattoir and animal characteristics

Bourguet, Cécile; Deiss, Véronique; Tannugi, Carole Cohen; Terlouw, Claudia

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2010.12.017

Cited by 97 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Loss and return of the corneal reflex has been observed by Hoffman in an unspecified number of cattle (Hoffman, 1900 cited by Gregory et al 2010). Bourguet et al (2011) also observed a temporary return of the palpebral and corneal reflex in some of the non-stunned slaughtered cattle. A temporary return of blood pressure would be necessary for these reflexes to return and may possibly be explained by physiological changes, such as an increased heart rate, to alleviate the drop in blood pressure (Newhook & Blackmore, 1982;Vimini et al, 1983).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

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Validation of indicators used to assess unconsciousness in veal calves at slaughter

Verhoeven

Gerritzen

Hellebrekers

et al. 2016

animal

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European legislation states that after stunning regular checks should be performed to guarantee animals are unconscious between the end of the stunning process and death. When animals are killed without prior stunning these checks should be performed before the animal is released from restraint. The validity of certain indicators used to assess unconsciousness under different stunning and slaughter conditions is under debate. The aim of this study was to validate the absence of threat-, withdrawal-, corneal-and eyelid reflex as indicators to assess unconsciousness in calves subjected to different stunning and slaughter methods. Calves (201 ± 22 kg) were randomly assigned to one of the following four treatments: (1) Captive bolt stunning followed by neck cut in an inverted position (n = 25); (2) Non-stunned slaughter in an upright position (n = 7); (3) Non-stunned slaughter in an inverted position (180°rotation) (n = 25); (4) Non-stunned slaughter in an upright position followed by captive bolt stunning 40 s after the neck cut (n = 25). Each calf was equipped with non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes before the slaughter procedure. All reflexes were verified once before the slaughter procedure. At the beginning of the procedure (T = 0 s) calves were stunned (treatment 1) or neck cut in an upright position (treatment 2, 4) or inverted position (treatment 3). Calves of treatment 4 were captive bolt stunned 34 ± 8 s after the neck cut. Reflexes were assessed every 20 s from T = 15 s for all treatments until all reflex tests resulted in a negative response three times in a row and a flat line EEG was observed. In addition, reflexes were assessed 5 s after captive bolt stunning in calves of treatments 1 and 4. Visual assessment of changes in the amplitude and frequency of EEG traces was used to determine loss of consciousness. Timing of loss of consciousness was related to timing of loss of reflexes. After captive bolt stunning, absence of threat-, withdrawal-, corneal-and eyelid reflex indicated unconsciousness as determined by EEG recordings. After non-stunned slaughter, both threat-and withdrawal reflex were on average lost before calves were unconscious based on EEG recordings. The eyelid-and corneal reflex were on average lost after calves had lost consciousness based on EEG recordings and appeared to be distinctly conservative indicators of unconsciousness in non-stunned slaughtered calves since they were observed until 76 ± 50 and 85 ± 45 s (mean ± SD), respectively, after EEG-based loss of consciousness.Keywords: electroencephalogram, calves, reflexes, slaughter, (un)consciousness ImplicationsMonitoring unconsciousness at slaughter is mandatory by European legislation and is often determined by the absence of behavioural indicators (i.e. loss of posture), physical signs (i.e. rhythmic breathing) and reflexes. Previous research in sheep has indicated that the absence of certain reflexes at slaughter is not a reliable indicator of unconsciousness. The present study showed that absence of the withdr...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…The eyelid reflex is known to be present after an animal is considered unconscious (Dugdale, 2010). The order in which the eyelid-and corneal reflex cease may differ, providing uncertainty which reflex is more resistant to the effects of anoxia (Bourguet et al, 2011;Terlouw et al, accepted b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of indicators used to assess unconsciousness in veal calves at slaughter

Verhoeven

Gerritzen

Hellebrekers

et al. 2016

animal

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“…* Percentage of cattle or pigs that vocalised (moo, bellow or squeal) during handling and restraint). Each animal is scored as either silent or vocalising (Dunn 1990;Grandin 1998aGrandin , 1998bGrandin , 2001Grandin , 2012Bourguet et al 2011;Hemsworth et al 2011;Simon et al 2016). * Percentage of animals moved with an electric goad (Grandin 1998a(Grandin , 2012Hemsworth et al 2011;Woiwode et al 2014;OIE 2016;Simon et al 2016 (Edwards et al 2010).…”

Section: Measurements Of Livestock Handlingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vocalisation of cattle during handling in a squeeze chute or other restraint device is a good measure of animal-welfare problems during handling, because it is associated with obvious aversive events such as electric-prod use or excessive pressure applied by a restraint device (Grandin 1998b;Bourguet et al 2011;Hemsworth et al 2011). Reducing the pressure applied by a head restraint reduced the percentage of cattle vocalising from 23% to 0% (Grandin 2001).…”

Section: Vocalisation In the Squeeze Chutementioning

confidence: 99%

Livestock-handling assessments to improve the welfare of cattle, pigs and sheep

Grandin¹

2018

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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Abstract. Assessing animal welfare during handling for veterinary procedures or loading onto a truck is simpler than is assessing welfare in housing. The first step is preventing acts of abuse that everybody who is interested in animal welfare would want stopped. Acts of abuse include beating animals, poking sensitive areas, dragging downed animals, deliberate slamming of gates on animals or deliberate driving animals over the top of downed animals. The next step is to implement objective numerical scoring of animal handling. The outcome measures that should be used are percentage of animals that fall, strike fences or gates, vocalise during restraint, are miscaught in the head stanchion or are moved with electric goads. Repeating these measurements over a period of time will make it possible to determine whether practices are improving or deteriorating. Further improvements in handling can be obtained with stockmanship training. Physiological measures of stress such as cortisol, lactate or glucose are useful for assessing handling methods because handling is a short-term stressor.

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“…Cattle may vocalize for a number of reasons, which include painful experiences, such as hot iron branding (Watts and Stookey, 1999; Schwartzgopf-Genswein et al, 1997), isolation (Watts and Stookey, 2001), excessive pressure from a neck restraint (Bourguet et al, 2011;Schwartzgopf-Genswein et al, 1997), or fear. The higher rate of vocalization observed among steers with incorrect CAP supports earlier findings that vocalization is associated with a painful event (Grandin, 1998;Watts and Stookey, 1999).…”

Section: Vocalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of initial handling practices on behavior and average daily gain of fed steers

Woiwode¹,

Grandin²,

Kirch³

et al. 2016

Int. J. Livest. Prod.

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The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between handling methods, cattle behavior during handling, and average daily gain (ADG) of feed yard cattle. Hereford steers (n = 496; initial body weight [BW] = 304 ± 35.6 kg) of similar genetic background were enrolled in this study after arrival at a commercial feed yard in Southwest Kansas. Two handling conditions prior to the working barn and two conditions of release from the squeeze chute were imposed. When cattle were moved from home pens to the working area, handlers were required to quietly walk all steers (SLOW); or handlers were permitted to bring steers to the processing area in the normal manner (FAST), which included handlers running, yelling, and cracking whips. Individual steers were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions of release from the squeeze chute. The first was a delay not longer than 30 s following the completion of procedures to allow cattle to stop struggling (DELAY); the second was release immediately following the completion of procedures (NORM). Vocalization and behavioral agitation (chute score) were measured in the squeeze chute and exit speed and exit behavior scores were assigned to all steers as they exited the squeeze chute the first time they were worked after entering the feed yard. Paired t-tests determined that cattle exiting the chute at a walk or trot vs. a run tended to have higher (P=0.08) ADG. Cattle vocalizing during restraint had lower (P=0.04) ADG than those that did not vocalize. The FAST group showed a tendency to vocalize more frequently than the SLOW group. There was a significant positive correlation between exit speed and vocalization (P= 0.0021, r= 0.14256) and a significant negative correlation between exit speed and ADG (P=0.0036, r=-0.13542). Handling was correlated with both behavior and ADG. Cattle that vocalize during handling and restraint may have reduced weight gains.

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Behavioural and physiological reactions of cattle in a commercial abattoir: Relationships with organisational aspects of the abattoir and animal characteristics

Cited by 97 publications

References 43 publications

Validation of indicators used to assess unconsciousness in veal calves at slaughter

Validation of indicators used to assess unconsciousness in veal calves at slaughter

Livestock-handling assessments to improve the welfare of cattle, pigs and sheep

Effects of initial handling practices on behavior and average daily gain of fed steers

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