Relationships between handling, behaviour and stress in lambs at abattoirs

Abstract

There is community concern about the treatment of farm animals post-farm gate, particularly animal transport and slaughter. Relationships between lamb behavioural and physiological variables on farm, stockperson, dog and lamb behavioural variables pre-slaughter and plasma cortisol, glucose and lactate in lambs post-slaughter were studied in 400 lambs. The lambs were observed in three behavioural tests, novel arena, flight distance to a human and temperament tests, before transport for slaughter. Closed-circuit television video footage was used to record stockperson, dog and lamb behaviour immediately before slaughter. Blood samples for cortisol, glucose and lactate analyses were collected on farm following the three behavioural tests and immediately post-slaughter. The regression models that best predicted plasma cortisol, glucose and lactate concentrations post-slaughter included a mixture of stockperson and dog behavioural variables as well as lamb variables both on-farm and pre-slaughter. These regression models accounted for 33%, 34% and 44% of the variance in plasma cortisol, glucose and lactate concentrations post-slaughter, respectively. Some of the stockperson and dog behaviours pre-slaughter that were predictive of the stress and metabolic variables post-slaughter included the duration of negative stockperson behaviours such as fast locomotion and lifting/pulling lambs, and the duration of dog behaviours such as lunging and barking at the lamb, while some of the predictive lamb behaviour variables included the durations of jumping and fleeing. Some of the physiological and behavioural responses to the behavioural tests on farm were also predictive of the stress and metabolic variables post-slaughter. These relationships support the well-demonstrated effect of handling on fear and stress responses in livestock, and although not direct evidence of causal relationships, highlight the potential benefits of training stockpeople to reduce fear and stress in sheep at abattoirs.

Affective State Recognition in Livestock – Artificial Intelligence Approaches

“…In addition to these behavioral signals, animal affective states are associated with changes in physiological parameters, such as heart rate [18][19][20], respiratory rate [20,21], and the temperature of the whole or parts of the body [22][23][24]. Furthermore, emotional changes in animals also modulate biochemical signals, such as levels of cortisol [19,25,26], lactate [26,27], and oxytocin [28] in blood and saliva.…”

Correlation between L-Lactate Concentrations in Beef Cattle, Obtained Using a Hand-Held Lactate Analyzer and a Lactate Assay Colorimetric Kit

“…In clinical settings, L-lactate was measured as a factor of prognosis and diagnosis of a variety of human and animal health conditions such as shock, severe sepsis, low cardiac output, liver failure, neoplasia, poisoning, and drug therapy [1,3,4]. In animal science studies, the analysis of blood lactate concentrations have been used to assess the effects of preslaughter handling (pigs [5,6], cattle [7,8], sheep [9], and trout: [10]) and transport stress (cattle: [11], poultry: [12], and pigs [13]).…”

Correlation between pre and post-slaughter physiological parameters in lambs

“…In addition, in order to obtain meats with superior quality standards, issues such as well-being should be taken into account (Lima, 2014), changes in the environment the animal is used to may cause stress, inducing the use of physiological mechanisms to restore Research, Society andDevelopment, v. 9, n. 11, e289119325, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i11.9325 homeostasis and promote adaptation (Hemsworth, Rice, Edwards, Ponnampalam & Coleman, 2016).…”

“…The muscle pH decline curve, due to lactic acid accumulation, is one of the most significant biochemical changes during muscle to meat conversion (Rodrigues & Silva, 2016). If the acidification effect does not achieve adequate levels of defects, such as PSE (Pale, Solf, Exudative) and DFD (Dark, Firm, Dry) type meats may occur (Hemsworth et al, 2016). Stempa, Muchenje, Abrahams & Bradley (2016) find the influence of stressing causes in the quality characteristics of the final product evaluated through post-slaughter parameters in animals of different categories, breeds, and sex of sheep.…”