Steer stress levels during long distance transport throughout the year in Japan

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate transportation conditions and behavioral and physiological responses of beef steers to long distance commercial transport throughout the year Japan. Japanese Black ¥ Holstein steers (7.9 Ϯ 0.6 months of age; 320.0 Ϯ 19.0 kg) were transported by truck in spring (n = 8), summer (n = 5), autumn (n = 8) and winter (n = 5). Transport distances (time) were 1020.6 km (25 h including lairage periods): 615.4 km (6.4 h) on expressways, 163.2 km (3.7 h) on arterial roads and 242.0 km (10.5 h) by ferry. The space allowance of the truck was about 1.6 m 2 /head in all seasons. Internal temperatures of the truck were 14.7 Ϯ 4.7°C in spring, 27.9 Ϯ 2.6°C in summer, 24.4 Ϯ 2.8°C in autumn and 9.2 Ϯ 4.3°C in winter. Although internal noise and airflow velocity of the truck were louder and greater while moving on expressways (101.1 Ϯ 8.3 dB and 1.50 Ϯ 1.50 m/s) than on arterial roads (92.0 Ϯ 15.2 dB and 1.32 Ϯ 1.41 m/s) (both P < 0.05), more steers lay down while moving on expressways (P < 0.001). Blood glucose, plasma cortisol, and serum triiodothyronine (T3) concentrations and ALT activity were higher in spring (all P < 0.05). This could be explained by that vibration acceleration (m/s 2 ) of the truck in the longitudinal direction was greater in spring (-0.19 Ϯ 0.43) than in the other seasons (-0.14 Ϯ 0.09 in summer, -0.15 Ϯ 0.20 in autumn and -0.15 Ϯ 0.13 in winter) (all P < 0.05). Heart rate, serum concentrations of T3, total cholesterol, total protein, and AST and ALT activities were higher just after transport than 1 week after transport (all P < 0.05). However, transport stress should be not severe, since no difference between before and after transport was shown on concentrations of plasma cortisol, blood lactate and serum NEFA, serum triglyceride and serum pH and liveweight.

The effects of different environmental conditions on thermoregulation and clinical and hematological variables in long-distance road-transported calves1

“…Therefore, at the end of the journey (T3) the increase of NEFA and ß-HB was outside the normal range (Radostits et al, 2007). Furthermore, the fasting of the calves induced a decrease of glycemia after the transport, as reported by Mormède et al (1982), Cole et al (1986), and Ishiwata et al (2008). This reduction confirms that calves suffered a lack of energy.…”

“…The similar lactate values between the summer and winter haulages could mean that exercise stress during the journeys in the present study was not affected by the different ambient conditions (Ishiwata et al, 2008). In summer, the return to the initial value of lactate was slower, indicating that the adaptation of calves after transportation could be more time consuming in the hot season.…”

“…Effective thermorégulation is confirmed by the greater BT in sunnner, which remained within the normal range for the species (Radostits et al, 2007). Ishiwata et al (2008) reported that winter temperatures above 0°G and summer conditions do not have a negative effect on steers during transport. A significantly increased BT at the end of transport has been reported by some authors (Tennessen et al, 1984;Kenny and Tarrant, 1987), whereas other studies (Gole et al, 1988;Gupta et al, 2007;Buckham Sporer et al, 2008;Ishiwata et al, 2008;Earley et al, 2010) showed unchanged values when compared with preloading values.…”

“…Ishiwata et al (2008) reported that winter temperatures above 0°G and summer conditions do not have a negative effect on steers during transport. A significantly increased BT at the end of transport has been reported by some authors (Tennessen et al, 1984;Kenny and Tarrant, 1987), whereas other studies (Gole et al, 1988;Gupta et al, 2007;Buckham Sporer et al, 2008;Ishiwata et al, 2008;Earley et al, 2010) showed unchanged values when compared with preloading values. No clinical infections were observed up to the 4th day after arrival; thus, the increased BT cannot be considered as an effective sign of an inflammatory response to infection in calves (Duff and Galyean, 2007), but it could be related to a rather limited effect of transport and increasing THI.…”

“…Their adaptive responses may be physiologic or require an excessive involvement of the thermorégulation system that produces thermal stress with changes in clinical and physiological variables. Studies examining the effects of different thermal conditions during short-and long-distance road transports have only considered steers and young bulls (Villarroel et al, 2003;Tadich et al, 2005;Ishiwata et al, 2008); no data on calves are available in the literature.…”