The effect of stocking density in transit on the carcass quality and welfare of slaughter pigs: 2. Results from the analysis of blood and meat samples

Warriss, P. D.; Brown, S. N.; Knowles, Toby G; Edwards, J. E. Hocking; Kettlewell, P.J.; Guise, H. J.

doi:10.1016/s0309-1740(98)00057-6

Cited by 66 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Blood chemistry Cortisol concentrations in slaughter blood, which are commonly accepted as a measure of the psychological effects of treatment (Warriss et al, 1998b), were not affected by the rearing system in this study. This would indicate that pigs may react psychologically to pre-slaughter handling in the same way, irrespective of how they are raised.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Mixing at loading gave higher CK activities in slaughter blood compared to non-mixing, as well as a tendency towards higher cortisol levels. CK activity is a measure of physical stress and muscle damage (Warriss et al, 1998b), and these results indicate that the pigs in this study may have found mixing to be both psychologically and physically more stressful than non-mixing. This result is in contrast to the previous study (Barton Gade, 2008), where there was only an effect of mixing on CK activities for conventionally raised pigs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

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Effect of rearing system and mixing at loading on transport and lairage behaviour and meat quality: comparison of free range and conventionally raised pigs

Gade

2008

Animal

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Free range pigs, born outdoors and reared after weaning in enriched indoor accommodation, were compared with conventionally raised pigs from a farm, matched for effects on meat quality, with respect to behaviour during transport and lairage, blood chemistry at slaughter and meat quality characteristics. Pigs were either kept in farm pen groups or were mixed at loading and kept in the groups, so formed, until slaughter. Free range pigs tended to settle faster during the 2 1 2 h transport and 2 h lairage than conventionally raised pigs and were more likely to lie as resting posture during transport. Mixing at loading had no effect on posture during transport or during lairage for free range pigs but mixed conventionally raised pigs showed a greater variability in posture during lairage compared to non-mixed conventionally raised pigs, presumably as a result of disturbance from fighting conspecifics. Conventionally raised and free range pigs showed similar levels of aggression during transport but conventionally raised pigs were more aggressive during the lairage (average for mixed groups 12 v. 2 fights, P , 0.001). Aggressive interactions, such as one-way bites, were almost exclusively confined to mixed groups and all fights with mutual biting in mixed groups occurred solely between unfamiliar animals. The frequency of unacceptable skin damage in the middle and shoulder was highest in conventionally raised pigs and in mixed groups. Cortisol concentration and creatine kinase (CK) activity in slaughter blood were not affected by the rearing system. Mixing did not affect cortisol concentrations but led to higher CK activities compared to non-mixing (957 v. 588 U/l, respectively, P , 0.05). The rate of pH fall after slaughter was not affected by the rearing system but muscle temperatures early post mortem were highest in free range pigs. Mixing did not affect pH or temperature early post mortem. Neither rearing system nor mixing at loading affected ultimate pH or internal reflectance (meat quality marbling values).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Effect of rearing system and mixing at loading on transport and lairage behaviour and meat quality: comparison of free range and conventionally raised pigs

Gade

2008

Animal

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“…Gender and seasonal effects were observed on the baseline levels, although values (Table 1) may generally be considered as normal for this species and physiological state (Hicks et al, 1998), with glucose levels being lower than those reported by Warriss et al (1998) possibly due to fasting previous to transport. Furthermore, these authors affirmed that CPK values up to 1 100 IU/l could be considered as normal, although they admitted that levels may be much higher.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Serum stress parameters in pigs transported to slaughter under commercial conditions in different seasons

Averós¹,

Herranz²,

Sánchez³

et al. 2007

Vet. Med.

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To determine the influence of slaughter transports carried out under commercial conditions, 162 pigs weighing 98 kg and of both sexes were studied. A total of seven transports were performed in summer and in winter conditions, with durations of 1 h and 13 h 15 min within each season. Cortisol, glucose, creatine phosphokinase (CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), albumin and total protein serum concentrations were measured. All variables increased during transport and decreased during lairage (P < 0.001), with cortisol values being 3.47 ± 0.19, 8.52 ± 0.28, and 6.96 ± 0.18 µg/dl at loading, unloading and exsanguinations, respectively, except for glucose (0.54 ± 0.03, 0.44 ± 0.04, and 0.86 ± 0.03 g/l). Short journeys did not allow the total recovery from the loading stress. A certain level of dehydration was observed, especially during lairage on the longest journeys (increase of 6.87 ± 1.29 g/l for total proteins; P < 0.01). Winter transports were slightly more stressful (P < 0.01 for cortisol and LDH, and P < 0.001 for CPK), with poorer recovery during lairage (CPK decrease being –141 ± 559 and –2 906 ± 730 IU/l for winter and summer journeys, respectively; P < 0.01). Females showed higher stress reactivity. Genetics modulated the effect of the rest of influencing factors, with Nn individuals showing a rougher reaction in short and winter conditions, but with lower dehydration levels. Under Mediterranean commercial conditions, stress in transported slaughter pigs was largely determined by season and genetics, so that an adaptation of handling procedures to these seasonal variations appears crucial if transport stress is to be reduced. Also, an improvement in stress resistance could be obtained by controlling the halothane gene of pigs.

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“…Mixing unfamiliar animals is a common practice in pig production, but it may lead to social stress within the group and is usually followed by fighting to create a new hierarchy (Fàbrega et al, 2013). Therefore, mixing animals may be an important ante-and peri-slaughter stressor that could affect pig welfare, and thus some pork quality traits such as pH, color and eating quality (Warriss et al, 1995 and1998;Terlouw et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of animal mixing as a stressor on biomarkers of autophagy and oxidative stress during pig muscle maturation

Rubio-González

Potes

Illán-Rodríguez

et al. 2015

Animal

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The objective of this work was to study the postmortem evolution of potential biomarkers of autophagy (Beclin 1, LC3-II/LC3-I ratio) and oxidative stress (total antioxidant activity, TAA; superoxide dismutase activity, SOD and catalase activity, CAT) in the Longissimus dorsi muscle of entire male ((Large White × Landrace) × Duroc) pigs subjected to different management treatments that may promote stress, such as mixing unfamiliar animals at the farm and/or during transport and lairage before slaughter. During the rearing period at the farm, five animals were never mixed after the initial formation of the experimental groups (unmixed group at the farm, UF), whereas 10 animals were subjected to a common routine of being mixed with unfamiliar animals (mixed group at the farm, MF). Furthermore, two different treatments were used during the transport and lairage before slaughter: 10 pigs were not mixed (unmixed group during transport and lairage, UTL), whereas five pigs were mixed with unfamiliar animals on the lorry and during lairage (mixed group during transport and lairage, MTL). These mixing treatments were then combined into three pre-slaughter treatments -namely, UF-UTL, MF-UTL and MF-MTL. The results show that MF-UTL and MF-MTL increased significantly the muscle antioxidant defense (TAA, SOD and CAT) at short postmortem times (4 and 8 h; P < 0.001), followed by an earlier depletion of the antioxidant activity at 24 h postmortem (P < 0.05). We also found that mixing unfamiliar animals, both at the farm and during transport and lairage, triggers postmortem muscle autophagy, which showed an earlier activation (higher expression of Beclin 1 and LC3-II/LC3-I ratio at 4 h postmortem followed by a decreasing pattern of this ratio along first 24 h postmortem) in the muscle tissues of animals from the MF-UTL and MF-MTL groups, as an adaptive strategy of the muscle cells for counteracting induced stress. From these results, we propose that monitoring the evolution of the main biomarkers of autophagy (Beclin 1, LC3-II/LC3-I ratio) and muscle antioxidant defense (TAA, SOD, CAT) in the muscle tissue within the first 24 h postmortem may help the detection of animal stress and its potential effect on the postmortem muscle metabolism.

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The effect of stocking density in transit on the carcass quality and welfare of slaughter pigs: 2. Results from the analysis of blood and meat samples

Cited by 66 publications

References 20 publications

Effect of rearing system and mixing at loading on transport and lairage behaviour and meat quality: comparison of free range and conventionally raised pigs

Effect of rearing system and mixing at loading on transport and lairage behaviour and meat quality: comparison of free range and conventionally raised pigs

Serum stress parameters in pigs transported to slaughter under commercial conditions in different seasons

Effect of animal mixing as a stressor on biomarkers of autophagy and oxidative stress during pig muscle maturation

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