The Effects of Sea and Road Transport on Physiological and Electroencephalographic Responses in Brahman Crossbred Heifers

Abstract

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effects of sea and road transport on the acute phase proteins (APP), cortisol, metabolic, haematological and electroencephalographic (EEG) responses of Brahman crossbred heifers. Sixty Brahman crossbred heifers were subjected to 14 d of transportation by sea from Darwin Port, Australia, to Pasir Gudang Port, Johor, Malaysia, and 330 km of road transportation. Results revealed that the intensity of response for most blood biochemical parameters increased significantly and were different from the baseline values taken while the animals were in Darwin Port, Australia. Haematological results obtained also revealed a significant increase and were different from the baseline values. Cortisol and APP (bovine alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and serum amyloid-A) values increased significantly and were different from the baseline values. Haematological parameters, APP, cortisol and EEG data (alpha, beta, delta and theta waves, total power and median frequency) decreased significantly following 4 and 7 days post-transport, suggesting a recovery of the animals from the stressfulness of transport. In conclusion, the current results revealed that the concentrations of biochemical and haematological parameters, cortisol, APP and EEG data were affected by both sea and road transport as evidenced by the significant changes recorded from the parameters above.

The Effects of Stocking Density and Distances on Electroencephalographic Changes and Cortisol as Welfare Indicators in Brahman Crossbred Cattle

“…At the point of neck cut, cortisol levels elevate further (threefold) with a mean value of 157.54 ng/mL, which may be associated with fear and novelty, stress due to handling while inside the restraint box and noise from hydraulics, as observed by numerous findings. The results observed are in line with those of elevated cortisol after long haul periods reported by Knowles and Warriss [47] and post-road transportation in cattle by Zulkifli et al [31].…”

“…Data on the influence of distances and stocking density during road transportation in cattle, especially under hot, humid tropical conditions in Malaysia, are scarce. The exception to this are the most recent studies, which studied the effect of sea and road transport of farm animals [31]. These call for a study to assess the impact of road transport on farm animals, the use of which is on the rise due to high demand and the welfare problems associated with handling and thermal extremes.…”

Geography, niches, and transportation influence bovine respiratory microbiome and health

“…It was reported that stress can exacerbate respiratory hyperreactivity and inflammation in an animal model of allergic bronchial asthma ( Joachim et al., 2003 ). Newly weaned calves experience huge stress during transportation or shipping, especially for a long distance ( Zulkifli et al., 2019 ; Malmuthuge et al., 2021 ), which may cause unclear changes in the airway for Mycoplasma proliferation. Keeping microbial balances in bovine airway during transportation might be an alternative strategy to decrease BRD morbidity.…”

Physiological and electroencephalographic changes in goats subjected to transportation, lairage, and slaughter

“…The sudden separation from the herd could have caused increased arousal (Briefer et al, 2015;Winblad von Walter, 2010), because physical and visual separation from the herd can cause substantial fear and anxiety response in gregarious animals like goats (Forkman et al, 2007). In previous animal slaughter studies, the increase in F 50 was suggested to be associated with nociceptive output from neck-cuts (Sabow et al, 2019;Zulkifli et al, 2014). The pre-slaughter stress may have affected the pain threshold at postslaughter in our study, because the post-S F 50 values in all lairage groups did not differ from those at pre-lairage.…”