Effects of the duration of lairage following transportation on the behaviour and physiology of farmed red deer

Abstract

Eight groups of five farmed red deer were transported by road for three hours, after which they were either slaughtered immediately (TO) or held in lairage for three, six or 18 hours (T3, T6 and T18). Liveweight loss increased with lairage time but hot carcase weight was unaffected. Deer spent much of the initial period in lairage standing stationary in 'alert' postures. After eight to 10 hours the proportions of time spent in various postures (standing stationary, moving and lying down) were similar to pre-journey values. None of the blood components associated with dehydration (packed cell volume, osmolality, total protein and sodium) changed significantly with lairage time. Compared with T0 deer, plasma creatine kinase activity was significantly decreased in T18 deer. Lairage time had no effect on skin damage, bruising or muscle glycogen content, although liver glycogen content increased with longer lairage time. Although lairage time had a statistically significant effect on muscle pHu (with T6 deer having the lowest values), the differences were small and none of the carcases had a pHu greater than 6-0.

Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) on a request from the Commission related to the welfare of animals during transport

“…As an effect of reduced space allowance, increased agonistic activities and pen-directed behaviour have been observed during stationary confinement (Grigor et al, 1998a), and after transport over increasing time of lairage (Grigor et al, 1997b). In another study, the lack of aggressive interaction between deer during transportation, was attributed to their continuous need to maintain the balance, as confirmed by the observation that more losses of balances were recorded for higher stocking densities (Grigor et al, 1998a).…”

“…In contrast, a protracted lairage period (9 days vs 3 days) was associated with a reduction in urinary osmolality, serum sodium levels and sodium fractional clearance, suggesting the possibility of a recovery of the animal's water-electrolyte balance during the 9 days of the lairage (Diverio et al, 1996b). However, even after 18 hours lairage time, almost no drinking was observed (although this may due a behaviour sampling artefact), and no physiological signs of dehydration were recorded (Grigor et al, 1997b). Although deer were observed eating throughout the lairage time, they progressively lost live weight, suggesting that the amount of straw or hay consumed was very small (Grigor et al, 1997b).…”

“…According to Fletcher (1988) it would be beneficial to gather the deer into pens on the day before transport. However, many studies show that overnight or longer lairage before slaughtering the deer, although it allowed some biological recovery, represented a further cause of stress (Grigor et al, 1997b;Diverio et al, 1996b;. In a study of pre-transport conditions, previous overnight housing did not influence loading operations (Grigor et al, 1998c).…”

“…However, even after 18 hours lairage time, almost no drinking was observed (although this may due a behaviour sampling artefact), and no physiological signs of dehydration were recorded (Grigor et al, 1997b). Although deer were observed eating throughout the lairage time, they progressively lost live weight, suggesting that the amount of straw or hay consumed was very small (Grigor et al, 1997b). In deer, as in other ruminants, the rumen may act as a reservoir of nutrients in water (Fletcher, 1988;Warris, 1990) maintaining water balance and reducing the effects of short-term water or food deprivation (Grigor et al, 1997b).…”

Influência do transporte e mudança de local de manejo nas variáveis fisiológicas e produtivas de cabras Alpinas

“…1 Animais transportados por longas distâncias e realocados em um novo ambiente apresentaram alterações importantes nos níveis de cortisol (Pearson e Kilgour, 1980;Odore et al, 2004;Ishiwata et al, 2008). Assim, o aumento observado nas concentrações de cortisol após o transporte indica que esse manejo é muito estressante para os animais (Grigor et al, 1997;Adamante et al, 2008), comparável a outros tipos de estresse causados pelo manejo (Blackshaw, 1984;Paiva et al, 2006).…”