Effect of transportation and shackling on plasma concentrations of corticosterone and heterophil to lymphocyte ratios in market weight male turkeys in a commercial operation

Abstract

There is limited information on the effects of stress and/or physiological manipulation on either plasma concentrations of corticosterone ( CORT ) and/or heterophil: lymphocyte ( H : L ) ratios in turkeys. The present studies examine the effects of catching/transportation/lairage in a holding shed and shackling on plasma concentrations of CORT and H : L ratios in male market weight turkeys. Plasma concentrations of CORT were increased after transportation and lairage but not further elevated by shackling, irrespective of its duration up to 240 s. In one study, there were increased H : L ratios following catching/placing birds into transportation cages/transportation/lairage. In one study, H : L ratios declined following shackling. It is concluded that while moving turkeys from the farm to immediately before the shackling line is stressful, shackling for up to 4 min was not perceived as more stressful in turkeys. There were also differences between farms/houses for both plasma concentrations of CORT and H : L ratios.

Evaluation of the hematological and clinical biochemical markers of stress in broiler chickens

“…Corticosterone is a commonly and frequently assessed biomarker of stress in birds [32][33][34]. Increased plasma or serum corticosterone has been recorded in poultry during transportation stress and heat stress [23,35]. However, high stocking density and feed withdrawal did not elicit any significant alteration in the corticosterone level of the broiler chickens when compared to that of the control group.…”

Effects of putative stressors and adrenocorticotropic hormone on plasma concentrations of corticosterone in market-weight male turkeys

“…Plasma concentrations of CORT tended to be increased by shackling compared with pretreatment in male turkeys and to be higher ( P < 0.05) than in birds that have been handled ( Table 2 ). The plasma concentrations of CORT in turkeys subjected to mock shackling were very similar to those in turkeys shackled in a commercial processing plant ( Scanes et al, 2019 ). The magnitude of tendency for increased plasma concentrations of CORT is markedly lower than the increases in plasma concentrations of CORT observed in broiler chickens after shackling ( Kannan and Mench, 1997 , Kannan et al., 1997 , Bedanova et al., 2007 ) or after handling and being inverted multiple times ( Kannan and Mench, 1997 , Kannan et al., 1997 ).…”

Poultry Meat Production in the South American Andes

“…The Andean zone of Peru (natural hypobaric environment) has more than eight million of inhabitants [60] grouped in more than a million families; A lot of they consume turkey meat at Christmas parties, maintaining the custom of consuming it from birds raised in the same area and from native species; However, in the last few years the supply of turkeys from lines commercial genetics has increased and the inhabitants of the Andean cities have reversed their preferences for this type of turkey due to its lower cost and higher meat yield, but it relates the breeding turkey in the same area with the good taste, which would have a biochemical basis because the transport of the turkey during several hours from the farm to downtown processing produces high levels of corticosterone [61], in addition to bruising that the bird suffers during transfer; so the consumer prefers to buy live birds, which they slaughter after a previous inspection of its appearance bodily.…”