Effects on sheep of transport by road for up to 24 hours

Abstract

Five groups of 20 slaughter sheep of approximately 37.9 kg liveweight were transported by road for either three, nine, 15, 18 or 24 hours and three groups were not transported, one of them being deprived of food and water for 24 hours. Before and after transport the liveweight and various blood variables were measured and heart rate and behavioural observations were recorded from subsets of the animals. With increased journey time there was a decrease in liveweight and an increase in the plasma levels of free fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyrate and urea; however, the changes over 24 hours were similar to those in the group deprived of food and water. In the transported sheep, the heart rate and levels of plasma cortisol and glucose were increased by the stresses of loading and the initial stages of the journey, but after nine hours the sheep appeared, to some extent, to have adapted. They were able to lie down and did not appear to be physically stressed. Measurements of plasma osmolality, total plasma protein and albumin did not indicate that the sheep had become severely dehydrated after 24 hours of transport but upon their return, feeding and drinking activity was greater than that observed before the journey.

The physiological and metabolic impacts on sheep and cattle of feed and water deprivation before and during transport

“…Cortisol increases glycogenolysis and induces protein catabolism to release amino acids, some of which serve as precursors for gluconeogenesis. Increased protein catabolism would be consistent with elevated levels of urea in plasma 8 and presumably with the enhanced excretion of N in urine and faeces in response to transport mentioned previously 17 . As Ferguson et al 6 indicated, meat produced following glycogen depletion through elevated levels of cortisol tends to be dark red in colour, dry and undesirably tough, especially if showing an ultimate pH above 5·9.…”

“…A loss in sheep of 5·5 kg over 12 h compared with control animals was recorded by Cockram et al 7 , and losses of this magnitude occur whether or not transportation is involved 8 . After the rapid initial loss, live weight continues to decrease steadily and relatively constantly for the next 36 h but declines more slowly after that 4 .…”

Effect of pre-slaughter handling, exercise and the presence of a dog on lamb welfare and meat quality

“…NEFA concentrations were elevated in lambs after transport and remained elevated at the time of slaughter. Increased plasma NEFA concentrations are indicative of enhanced lipolysis and energy mobilisation, and have been shown to occur in response to increased energy demands caused by withdrawal from feed and water (Knowles et al, 1995), exercise (Cockram et al, 2012) and transport (Zhong et al, 2011) in sheep. The high intensive handling regime used in the present study exacerbated the NEFA response to transport and lairage in lambs, likely due to the extra energy demands caused by the three extra periods of enforced physical activity.…”

Ankara Ticaret Borsası Kesimhanesi’ne yapılan kasaplık hayvan nakillerinde bazı koşulların hayvan refahı bakımından incelenmesi

“…Çünkü hayvanlarda yorgunluk, enerji yetmezliği, hastalıklara duyarlılık görülmekte, yeni patojenlerle karşılaşma riski artmakta ve böylece hastalanma olasılığı yükselmektedir. AB düzenlemelerinde karayoluyla nakilde sürenin 8 saati geçmemesi gerektiği; bu süreyi geçmesi durumunda ilave tedbirlerin alınması zorunlu olduğu bildirilmektedir (4,8,9,14). Bu çalışmada gerek sığırlar gerekse de kuzuların naklinde ortalama nakil süresi ve mesafesinin kısa olması; sığırlarda 8 saatten fazla süren nakil oranının çok düşük olması refah bakımından olumlu bir durumdur.…”