Effect of the pre-slaughter logistic chain on some indicators of welfare in lambs

The effect of dietary supplementation with β-1,3/1,6-D-glucan on stress parameters and meat quality in lambs

“…For this reason, the N : L ratio is regarded as an important indicator of stress response in animals (Miranda-de la Lama et al, 2010;Ekiz et al, 2012a,b). The influence of various stressors on the value of the N : L ratio was studied by many authors.…”

“…In lambs the stress associated with pre-slaughter handling (including weaning, pre-slaughter starvation and pre-slaughter rest in the lairage), conditions and duration of transport, as well as season has been studied extensively (Sowińska et al, 2001;Fisher et al, 2005;Ali et al, 2006;Kadim et al, 2006Kadim et al, , 2009Bórnez et al, 2009;Tadich et al, 2009;Miranda-de la Lama et al, 2010;Ekiz et al, 2012a,b). Increased blood cortisol levels in lambs after 75 min (Ekiz et al, 2012a), 2 h (Ali et al, 2006) and 48 h of transport (Tadich et al, 2009) indicate that transport is the most significant stressor during pre-slaughter handling.…”

“…Pre-slaughter handling involves several procedures that are critical for animal welfare, including pre-slaughter starvation, conditions and duration of transport to the slaughterhouse, loading and unloading of animals (Tadich et al, 2009;Miranda-de la Lama et al, 2010). Weaning is an additional stressor for suckling lambs (Sowińska et al, 2001;Ekiz et al, 2012c).…”

Serum cortisol and haematological, biochemical and antioxidant enzyme variables in horse blood sampled in a slaughterhouse lairage, immediately before stunning and during exsanguination

“…The latter might lead to changes of biochemical, haematological and oxidative stress variables (Mitchell et al, 1988;Wernicki et al, 2006;Miranda-de la Lama et al, 2010). Being fear and flight animals, horses can respond to different stressful conditions by displaying behavioural changes that might include strenuous physical activity with muscle damage and oxidative stress (Ishida et al, 1999;Winther Christensen et al, 2005;Werner and Gallo, 2008).…”

“…The effects of transport and pre-slaughter handling on meat quality and fluctuations of blood constituents indicative of stress have been studied mostly in cattle (Mitchell et al, 1988;Cockram and Corley, 1991;Tadich et al, 2005), pigs (Young et al, 2003;Hambrecht et al, 2005) and sheep (Jarvis and Cockram 1994;Jarvis et al, 1996;Miranda-de la Lama et al, 2010) but less frequently in horses (Stull, 1999;Werner and Gallo, 2008;Micera et al, 2010).…”