Correa, J. A., Gonyou, H. W., Torrey, S., Widowski, T., Bergeron, R., Crowe, T. G., Laforest, J. P. and Faucitano, L. 2013. Welfare and carcass and meat quality of pigs being transported for two hours using two vehicle types during two seasons of the year. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 93: 43–55. A total of 3756 pigs were transported for 2 h in summer and winter using a “pot-belly” trailer (PB) and a hydraulic double-decked truck (DD) in order to assess the effect of vehicle design on animal welfare and carcass and meat quality. Animal welfare was assessed in randomly selected barrows by measuring heart rate of pigs and lactate and creatine phospho-kinase (CPK) concentrations in exsanguination blood. Skin damage was scored and meat quality was evaluated in the longissimus dorsi (LD), semimembranosus (SM) and adductor (AD) muscles. Heart rates in winter were higher (P< 0.01) during transport, at unloading and in lairage. Blood CPK and lactate concentrations at slaughter were higher (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively) in pigs transported on the PB trailer. Bruises increased in winter (P<0.001) and in pigs from the DD truck (P<0.05). The pHu was higher (P< 0.01) in all muscles and L* value was lower (P<0.05) in the LD muscle from pigs transported in the PB trailer. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the type of vehicle, animal location in the truck and the season affect the welfare of pigs during transport with clear consequences on skin bruises and pork quality variation.

Scheeren, M. B., Gonyou, H. W., Brown, J., Weschenfelder, A. V. and Faucitano, L. 2014. Effects of transport time and location within truck on skin bruises and meat quality of market weight pigs in two seasons. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 71–78. The effects of season (winter vs. summer), transport time (T: 6, 12 and 18 h) and truck compartment (C) on skin bruise score and meat quality were evaluated in 384 pigs distributed across the top front (C1), top back (C4), middle front (C5) and bottom rear (C10) compartments. Bruise score was higher (P=0.01) in winter than in summer. A T×C interaction was found for pHu value in the longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle and for drip loss in the LT and semimembranosus (SM) muscles, with higher (P<0.001) pHu being recorded in the LT muscle and lower drip loss in the LT and SM muscles (P<0.001 and P=0.01, respectively) of pigs located in C10 following 18 h of transport. In summer, higher (P=0.03) pHu values were found in the LT muscle of pigs transported in C4 and lower drip loss in the LT and SM muscles (P=0.04 and P=0.03, respectively) of pigs located in C10. The results of this study suggest that, while skin bruises are only affected by season, the effects of longer transport time and winter temperatures on meat quality can be aggravated by the compartment location.

Goumon, S., Bergeron, R., Faucitano, L., Crowe, T., Connor, M. L. and Gonyou, H. W. 2013. Effect of previous ramp exposure and regular handling on heart rate, ease of handling and behaviour of near market-weight pigs during a simulated loading. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 93: 461–470. The objective of this study was to assess whether stress response during simulated loading could be reduced by providing pigs with experience prior to the event. Two weeks before simulated loading, 160 Large White × Landrace near market-weight pigs were allocated to one of four treatments: physical training (EXERCISE), psychological training (RAMP), EXERCISE and RAMP trainings (BOTH) or no training (CON). Once training was completed, pigs were loaded into a simulated trailer compartment, and the metrics of behaviour, pig and handler's heart rates, loading time and handling difficulty were measured. During loading, heart rate was lower (P<0.05) for EXERCISE and BOTH pigs compared with RAMP and CON pigs. The numbers of touch/slap and push were lower (P<0.05 and P<0.05, respectively) for EXERCISE pigs compared with CON, RAMP and BOTH pigs, which did not differ (P>0.05). The number of balks was the lowest (P<0.05) for EXERCISE pigs, whereas there were no differences (P>0.05) between BOTH and CON or RAMP pigs. This study demonstrates that daily exercise, by itself, improves the ease of handling and reduces cardiovascular response, while it appears that previous exposure to a ramp had no beneficial effects.

. 2015. Effects of dietary total non-structural carbohydrates and folic acid and vitamin B 12 supplement on growth and meat quality of yearling steers in a forage-based beef production system. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 281Á291. Thirty-two spring calving cows [760991 kg body weight (BW)] and calves (4494.5 kg BW) were assigned to eight blocks of four cows and their calves each according to parity and calving date. Within each block, two cows were fed a low total non-structural carbohydrate (TNC) diet, while the two others were fed a high TNC diet. Within each diet, cows were administered either no vitamins or weekly intramuscular injections of 160 mg of folic acid plus 10 mg of vitamin B 12 . Calves were slaughtered at 30599 d. Neither TNC concentration nor vitamin supplementation affected (P 0.10) milk yield but the vitamin supplementation increased (P 00.002) milk concentrations of vitamin B 12 . There was no treatment effect on calf performance, or carcass and meat characteristics (P0.10) except for collagen concentrations and shear force measurements in the longissimus lumborum muscle, which had a tendency to be decreased (P50.06) by the vitamin supplement. In the present study, differences in forage TNC concentrations did not influence cow and calf performance. Moreover, folic acid and vitamin B 12 supplements were shown to have little impact in this study on growth of beef cattle. Dans chaque bloc, 2 vaches ont rec¸u une die`te faible en glucides non structuraux totaux (TNC Á « total non-structural carbohydrates ») alors que les 2 autres ont rec¸u une die`te a`haute teneur en TNC. Pour chaque die`te, les vaches ont rec¸u soit des injections intramusculaires hebdomadaires de 160 mg d'acide folique et 10 mg de vitamine B 12 , ou pas. Les veaux ont e´te´abattus a`l'aˆge de 30599 jours. Ni la concentration de TNC ni le supple´ment vitaminique n'ont eu d'effet (P0,10) sur la production laitie`re, mais le supple´ment vitaminique a augmente( P00,002) la concentration de vitamine B 12 dans le lait. Il n'y a pas eu d'effet du traitement sur la croissance des bouvillons ni sur les caracte´ristiques de la carcasse et de la viande (P0,10), sauf une tendance vers une re´duction des concentrations de collage`ne et des mesures de la force de cisaillement du muscle longissimus lumborum (P 50,06) par le supple´ment vitaminique. Dans la pre´sente e´tude, les diffe´rences de concentrations de TNC dans les fourrages n'ont pas modifie´la performance des vaches et des veaux. De plus, le supple´ment d'acide folique et de vitamine B 12 n'a pas eu d'effet sur la croissance des bouvillons dans cette e´tude.