Stress in cattle assessed after handling, after transport and after slaughter

Mitchell, G.; Hattingh, J.; Ganhao, M.F.

doi:10.1136/vr.123.8.201

Cited by 170 publications

(115 citation statements)

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“…Studying the relationship between behaviour and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity (Cole et al, 1988;Mitchell et al, 1988) allows a more precise detection of stress than mere observation . Till date feedback-free sampling methods for cortisol assays have been developed and validated for milk (Fukasawa et al, 2008), saliva (Pérez et al, 2004;Weston, 2009), faeces (Morrow et al, 2002;Kahrer et al, 2006) and urine (Morrow et al, 2000).…”

Section: Significance Of Hr and Hrv As Non-invasive Stress Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Welfare implication of measuring heart rate and heart rate variability in dairy cattle: literature review and conclusions for future research

Kovács

Jurkovich

Bakony³

et al. 2014

Animal

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Heart rate (HR) measurements have been used to determine stress in livestock species since the beginning of the 1970s. However, according to the latest studies in veterinary and behaviour-physiological sciences, heart rate variability (HRV) proved to be more precise for studying the activity of the autonomic nervous system. In dairy cattle, HR and HRV indices have been used to detect stress caused by routine management practices, pain or milking. This review provides the significance of HR and HRV measurements in dairy cattle by summarising current knowledge and research results in this area. First, the biological background and the interrelation of the autonomic regulation of cardiovascular function, stress, HR and HRV are discussed. Equipment and methodological approaches developed to measure interbeat intervals and estimate HRV in dairy cattle are described. The methods of HRV analysis in time, frequency and non-linear domains are also explained in detail emphasising their physiological background. Finally, the most important scientific results and potential possibilities for future research are presented.Keywords: heart rate, heart rate variability, stress, welfare, dairy cattle ImplicationsHousing and milking technology, health status and way of handling of animals influence the well-being of animals in intensive dairy farming. Non-invasive methods of assessing stress include heart rate and heart rate variability measurements that involve the monitoring of the autonomic nervous function by digital, high frequency, 24 h multi-channel electrocardiographic recorders. As high-producing cattle breeds are very sensitive to environmental factors, monitoring and decreasing stress is of major importance in terms of both animal welfare and production. IntroductionIn intensive dairy farming, housing and milking systems are main factors in determining the welfare of animals, as adaptation to environmental changes can be challenging for high-producing breeds.Important aspects in the improvement of dairy cattle management systems in respect of animal welfare are the recognition and evaluation of stress. The stressfulness of the technological environment has been examined in many different contexts. Certain welfare studies proved that for intensively farmed cattle, the milking technology (Rushen et al., 2001;Wenzel et al., 2003), fear from given routine treatments (Holst, 1998) and pain (Broom, 1991;Mellor et al., 2000) mean such load that may cause stress (Dantzer and Mormède, 1983;von Borell, 2001) having a negative impact also on milk production (Rushen et al., 2001). Effects of technology and of social interactions can be described not only by classical descriptive behavioural observations (e.g. Milmann, 2013;Theurer et al., 2013), but with physiological measures as well (Hopster and Blokhuis, 1994;Rietmann et al., 2004). Most dairy cattle studies have focused on the stress reactions of animals expressed in neuroendocrine changes that are considered to be reliable indicators of stress and pain in livestock species (...

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Section: Significance Of Hr and Hrv As Non-invasive Stress Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Welfare implication of measuring heart rate and heart rate variability in dairy cattle: literature review and conclusions for future research

Kovács

Jurkovich

Bakony³

et al. 2014

Animal

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“…Studies measuring the impact of human-directed activities on ungulates on a physiological base are, so far, mostly limited to livestock (e.g. Mitchell et al 1988, Dalin et al 1992, Bristow and Holmes 2007 or captive animals (e.g. Abeyesinghe et al 1997, Carragher et al 1997, to specific situations (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortisol response of wild ungulates to trauma situations: hunting is not necessarily the worst stressor

Gentsch

Kjellander

Röken³

2018

Eur J Wildl Res

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Animal welfare concerns are becoming a central issue in wildlife management and conservation. Thus, we investigated stress response of wild ungulates to potentially traumatic situations (shooting injuries, vehicle collisions, entanglement, injuries or diseases) and hunting methods (stalking, battues and hunts with dogs) by means of serum cortisol concentrations from blood collected from killed animals. Cortisol levels in roe deer ranged below and in wild boar above levels for moose, red deer and fallow deer (hence, pooled as a group Bdeer^). Apart from species, cortisol concentration in trauma situations was mainly explained by trauma type and presence of disturbance after the trauma event. Effect of trauma type differed significantly for Bdeer^, with animals caught in fences and suffering vehicle collisions experiencing higher cortisol levels than animals injured by shooting. Differences between hunting methods were observed in the cervids (Bdeer^and roe deer), with stalking leading to lower cortisol levels than hunts with dogs (both groups) and battues (roe deer). Events both before and after the shot, such as duration of pursuit prior to shooting, location of injury, trauma length and presence of disturbance after the shot were relevant for cortisol levels in hunted cervids. Our results indicate that search teams tracking and euthanising wounded animals should behave in a calm way to minimise disturbance. Still, it is important to acknowledge that many situations described in the literature, i.e. reindeer handling, roe deer captures and red deer yarding, seem even more stressful, beside vehicle collisions, than most hunting methods.

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“…Transport stress first activates the hypothalamic-adrenal cortex and then sympatheticadrenal-medulla (Mitchell et al, 1988) and alters the concentrations of a series of hormones, such as CRH, GnRH, TH, and ACTH. Numerous studies have shown that stress-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis plays an important role in inhibiting the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis (Cevik et al, 2004;Chand and Lovejoy, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential expression of luteinizing hormone receptor, androgen receptor and heat-shock protein 70 in the testis of long-distance transported mice

et al. 2015

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ABSTRACT. Spermatogenesis, is a complex process of precisely regulated intracellular events, where it is affected by many factors. Long-distance transport of animals is one of the stressors that may influence spermatogenesis and sperm quality. The present study chose luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR), androgen receptor (AR), and heatshock protein 70 (HSP70) as our target genes to investigate their mRNA and protein expression in the testes of long-distance transported (about 1000 km) mice. Histological analysis showed that there was a reduction in the thickness of the seminiferous epithelium in the transported mice, and a significant decrease in body weight and sperm count in the epididymis was also observed. mRNA expression was determined by QPCR in the testis of transported and control mice. The levels for AR decreased significantly in transported mice. LHR and HSP70 expression in the testes of the transported mice was slightly higher than that of control mice but did not reach a significant level. A similar tendency of protein expression was also observed by Western blot analysis. The levels of LHR and HSP70 increased slightly after transportation. However, none of the changes were statistically significant compared with the control mice. In conclusion, long-distance transport has an adverse effect on reproductive organs and spermatozoa in adult mice.

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Stress in cattle assessed after handling, after transport and after slaughter

Cited by 170 publications

References 0 publications

Welfare implication of measuring heart rate and heart rate variability in dairy cattle: literature review and conclusions for future research

Welfare implication of measuring heart rate and heart rate variability in dairy cattle: literature review and conclusions for future research

Cortisol response of wild ungulates to trauma situations: hunting is not necessarily the worst stressor

Differential expression of luteinizing hormone receptor, androgen receptor and heat-shock protein 70 in the testis of long-distance transported mice

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