Long distance transportation of steers to slaughter: effect of stocking density on physiology, behaviour and carcass quality

Qualitative behavioural assessment and quantitative physiological measurement of cattle naïve and habituated to road transport

“…As part of the process of validating QBA as a measure of welfare state, we sought to undertake QBA on animals that represented a range of behaviour that could be linked with known physiological states. Road transport of cattle was selected as the model because it is a well known stressor for livestock Ewbank 1983a, 1983b;Murata andHirose 1990, 1991;Tarrant et al 1992), and the treatment can be manipulated and is therefore to some degree controllable.…”

A note on heat shock protein 70 expression in goats subjected to road transportation under hot, humid tropical conditions

“…High ambient temperature is a major factor in the elicitation of physiological stress reactions during road transportation in livestock and poultry (Broom, 2000). Studies on cattle (Tarrant et al, 1992) and sheep (Knowles, 1998) have shown that stocking density is crucial for animal welfare during transportation and becomes critical at high stocking densities. High stocking densities on transport vehicles have been closely associated with greater physiological stress reactions and poorer meat quality, when compared with medium and low stocking densities (Broom, 2000).…”

Invited review: Relationship between cattle transport, immunity and respiratory disease

“…Furthermore, Warriss et al (1995) reported that while plasma cortisol concentrations increased in cattle following loading, values returned to normal as the journey continued. In contrast, Tarrant et al (1992) and Dixit et al (2001) reported that for cattle, the actual journey was more stressful than loading and unloading. Overall loading, transportation itself and unloading has an important role in determining the increased cortisol response relative to the pre-and post-transport rearing conditions.…”

“…Haematocrit levels are elevated with transportation in association with higher erythrocyte counts in the circulation (Tarrant et al, 1992). Increased haematocrit levels are indicative of dehydration during transport and values have been reported to return to normal after access to water and hay in the 24 h period post-transport .…”

“…In a study transporting bulls at different stocking densities, plasma haptoglobin concentrations were unchanged, whereas plasma fibrinogen levels were reduced . Plasma fibrinogen was greatly increased in long distance transportation (Tarrant et al, 1992). However, further work is required before these proteins can be universally applied to all husbandry stressors, specifically co-mingling, weaning and transportation of calves.…”