Using sensors to detect individual responses of lambs during transport and pre-slaughter handling and their relationship with meat quality

Abstract

Rapid analysis of animal welfare is a crucial component of the assessment of the meat quality supply chain, ensuring management procedures confer optimum standards of welfare. Further, there is increasing interest in monitoring the welfare state of each individual animal. This study looked at transport and pre-slaughter management in terms of meat quality evaluated in two breeds (Biellese and Sambucana) across two different farming systems. Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) technologies were implemented, including accelerometer and rumination activity ear-tag sensors, as potential welfare indicators during transportation and pre-slaughter. Significant correlations were found between sensors' parameters, such as total activity and rumination and physical and chemical meat quality characteristics such as drip loss. Lambs with lower rumination and/or lower total activity were found to have lower drip loss indicating reduced meat quality. Sensors have the potential to help detect those animals particularly sensitive to stressors during transport and pre-slaughter handling and may allow real-time measurement of the impact of transport and handling in abattoirs, enabling better animal management via specific customised strategies.

Rumination Detection in Sheep: A Systematic Review of Sensor-Based Approaches

“…Two devices were custom-made for the purpose of scientific studies (those used by Mansbridge et al [8] and Dos Reis et al [21]). Some studies deployed multiple sensors (Dos Reis et al [21]; Turner et al [7]; Ogun et al [11]).…”

“…Mansbridge et al [8], on the other hand, argued that the ear position may be more practical given the possibility of integrating the sensor into an ear-tag. Ogun et al [11] explicitly reported that there were no issues regarding the ear or the sensor (e.g., tag loss, ear tearing, breakage, failure) during the experimental period, suggesting this location may be commercially viable. Decandia et al [6] also argued that placing a sensor in a location that yields good classification results (such as in a muzzle, as found by Giovanetti et al [32]) may be reasonable in a research context, but not viable in a commercial context.…”

“…These are sensor position (e.g., positioned on the collar vs. the neck, mouth, or ear); sensor type; data collection frequency; time window size; feature construction; and algorithm used [6][7][8][9][10]. A sensor that detects rumination reliably will be useful to assess sheep welfare, because a sudden cessation or reduction in rumination over a period of time is an indication of reduced welfare [11]. For cattle, sensors have been effectively used to detect changes in rumination as an indication of impaired welfare, such as painful conditions and diseases (e.g., mastitis, acidosis, and ketosis) [12][13][14], while comparable studies conducted with sheep are lacking.…”

“…Few studies have deployed sensors to assess sheep welfare. Ogun et al [11] used a commercial tri-axial accelerometer ear-tag sensor designed for cattle (eSense Flex, Allflex, Dallas, TX, USA) to study potential welfare indicators for lambs. The authors suggested that using biosensors to monitor the quality of transport and pre-slaughter handling has the potential to improve animal welfare and predict certain meat quality parameters, such as drip loss [18].…”