Preslaughter handling practices and their effects on animal welfare and pork quality1

Abstract

At all times, prior to slaughter, pigs may experience stress from a range of handling practices, such as fasting, loading and transport, mixing, and interaction with humans. These factors can affect the welfare of pigs and carcass and meat quality, both individually and collectively. Preslaughter stress is both an animal welfare and a meat quality issue. Behavioral and physiological studies have revealed that poor handling practices at the farm, during transport and at the slaughter plant, have an adverse effect on pigs and may result in the loss of profits due to animal losses during transport and in lairage. Also, poor preslaughter handling can also lead to losses in carcass value as a result of reduced yield, the presence of lesions and bacterial contamination, and meat quality defects (e.g., pale, soft, exudative and dark, firm, dry pork). These economic losses can be limited by improving the design of facilities, controlling the environmental conditions, and implementing training programs for the correct animal handling at any stage preslaughter. The objective of this review was to review research findings on the effects of preslaughter practices on ante-mortem behavioral and physiological response in pigs, including muscle metabolism, and to provide recommendations aimed at limiting the impact of preslaughter handling on animal losses and pork quality.

Research Article A DdeI polymorphism in the growth hormone gene is associated with higher lean meat yield and pH 45 min in postmortem pigs

“…The color of pork is influenced by multiple factors, such as feed, pre-slaughter handling, genetics, age, anatomical function of the muscle, amount of oxidative and glycolytic metabolism, mixed fibers, and sex Arkfeld et al 2017;Faucitano, 2018). A study of the color of muscles showed that the SM muscle of castrated males and females produced under the same conditions did not show differences in L*, a*, and b*, indicating no effect of sex (Overholt et al, 2016).…”

Identification of Possible Pre-Slaughter Indicators to Predict Stress and Meat Quality: A Study on Heavy Pigs

“…In particular, it was observed that some loads (26 shipments, corresponding to 59% of loads) were slaughtered within few hours after unloading, of which one was slaughtered immediately after unloading (minimum lairage duration of 3 min), whereas others (18 shipments, corresponding to 41% of loads) were kept in lairage overnight (lairage duration above 10 h). Although there is a certain degree of contradiction among studies about the definition of optimal lairage duration in relation to its effects on meat quality [29], a lairage of 2-3 h is generally recommended [4]. It has been observed that, in the case of heavy pigs, overnight lairage may increase the risk of pre-slaughter animal losses [15], although this effect seems to be largely dependent on the characteristics of the slaughterhouse such as stocking density, presence of large open windows, and use of sprinklers as cooling devices [28].…”

“…This result may indicate a higher degree of muscle damage in the HS cluster pigs, which may be associated to the factors characterizing the HS cluster. All these characteristics result in acute stress and fatigue [1,4,40]. For example, long journeys, group mixing and accidents during handling may cause both direct (traumatic) and indirect (fatigue-induced) muscle damage (therefore leading to an increase in serum leaking enzymes), together with an increase in the stress response.…”

“…All these practices can induce stress, a term which will be used in the present work with the meaning of "a way of suggesting negative implications (defined as acute or chronic stress) on pig welfare" during pre-slaughter handling and transport [1]. Overall, the stress experienced by pigs in these phases is the result of complex interactions between on-farm conditions (e.g., housing system, feed withdrawal, and handling) and conditions experienced during transport (e.g., vehicle design, transport duration, space allowance, climate) and lairage (e.g., duration and handling), which affect animal losses, pigs' physiological and behavioral responses before slaughter, and carcass and meat quality variation [4].…”

Uso de seleção assistida por marcadores moleculares em melhoramento genético de suínos

“…Using the same method, Tomovic et al (2014) introduced for the Landrace and Large White breeds and WHC is influenced by the muscular type. WHC is an important attribute in the industry as it is important for the yield of processed and stained products of fresh meat The color of pork is influence by multiple factors such as feed, pre-slaughter handling, genetics, age, anatomical function of the muscle, amount of oxidative, glycolytic, mixed fibers, and sex Arkfeld et al 2017;Faucitano, 2018). A study of the color of some muscles showed that the SM muscle of castrated males and females produced under the same conditions did not show differences in L*, a*, and b*, indicating no effect of sex (Overholt et al, 2016).…”