Effect of Finishing Diet and Lairage Time on Steers Welfare in Uruguay

Abstract

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of two different pasture-based finishing strategies and lairage time on steers welfare in Uruguayan conditions. Sixty Hereford (H) and Braford (B) steers were assigned to two different diets for finishing purposes: (D1) native pasture plus corn grain (1% of live weight) (H n = 15, B n = 15) and (D2) high-quality pasture (H n = 15, B n = 15). The average daily gain was registered every 14 days, and temperaments were individually assessed one week before slaughter by three individual tests: crush score, flight time and exit speed, building a multicriterial temperament index (TIndex). Animals were slaughtered the same day in two groups (50% from D1 and 50% from D2 in each group) after traveling for 3.5 h and staying 15 (long lairage) and 3 h (short lairage) in the lairage pens, respectively. The behaviors were observed during lairage, and physiological indicators were used to assess stress at the farm after transport, after lairage and at slaughter. Bruises incidence and final pH were registered at the abattoir as a means of assessing the overall animal welfare. Calmer animals had higher average daily gains with no differences either between diets or between breeds. Calmer animals also had a lower stress response during all preslaughter stages, regardless of the time in lairage. Transport did not imply psychological stress (cortisol) for any slaughter group, but physical stress was evident after transport in both groups through NEFA and CPK increases. Bruise incidences did not differ between lairage groups. The short lairage group did not have enough time to cope with the environment before slaughter, with the consequent deleterious effects on the carcass pH. Animals from the long lairage group had a higher metabolic response shown through NEFA values, but they had enough time to rest and recover overnight, reaching final pH values lower than 5.8, considered the upper limit of the normal range. According to this experiment, with pasture-based animals without fasting on the farm and after 3.5 h of transportation, a resting period of 15 h in lairage should be better than a 3-h one.

Effect of three different lairage times (0, 18 and 24 hours) on meat quality parameters in camels

“…On the other hand, Sterten et al (2010) believe that muscle glycogen drop during the pre-slaughter process may be a consequence of fasting throughout lairage. After some hours of transportation and feed withdrawal, animals are presumed to need more energy in order to restore their energy balance and consequently to adapt to novel resting situations (Del Campo et al 2021). Thus, glycogen reserves after a longer fasting period could probably be the primary source of energy available for animals.…”

Investigating the impact of pre-slaughter management factors on meat quality outcomes in cattle raised for beef: A scoping review

“…Edwards-Callaway), while Oceanic and South American countries tend to have more extended lairage periods to allow animals to rest after long transport (Ferguson and Warner, 2008). This concept was reflected in the studies presented in this scoping review, as conditions and duration of lairage varied substantially across regions, e.g., lairage duration ranged from hours (del Campo Gigena et al, 2021) to multiple days (Liotta et al, 2007). Overall, many papers assessed the effect of lairage duration on muscle pH, of which only three evaluated the impact of pen density on the quality outcome.…”

“…These challenges are not only due to the highly variable transport, handling, and lairage practices worldwide, but also because there are many intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence meat quality outcomes. Pre-slaughter factors reported to impact meat quality outcomes include weather (Scanga et al, 1998), transport duration (Jones and Tong, 1989;Gallo et al, 2003), animal handling practices Frimpong et al, 2014), and lairage duration (Loredo-Osti et al, 2019;del Campo Gigena et al, 2021;Steel et al, 2021); furthermore, how these factors interact with each other to influence product quality is complex, and thus, the nature of these relationships have not been fully elucidated.…”

Assessment of the effect of pre-slaughter fasting period of young bulls on the qualitative characteristics of meat

“…Транспортировка и обращение с животными во время взвешивания, погрузки и разгрузки приводят к стрессовым нагрузкам на организм. Прежде всего это связано с физическим и психологическим стрессами: лишение пищи; усталость из-за транспортировки; применение специального оборудования; смешивание групп; предубойное содержание; незнакомая обстановка и другие вызывает поведенческие и физиологические изменения, которые оказывают влияние на качественные характеристики мяса [14, 15,16].…”