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

Abubakar, Abubakar; Zulkifli, I.; Goh, Yong Meng; Kaka, Ubedullah; Sabow, Azad Behnan; Awad, Elmutaz Atta; Imlan, Jurhamid Columbres; Othman, Azalea H.; Raghazli, Razlina; Mitin, Helen; Sazili, Awis Qurni

doi:10.3390/ani11102895

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Alternative slaughter was identified as a process that followed religious slaughter laws, used a head restraint during stunning, performed electrical stunning, or slaughtered and processed animals outside of a permanent facility. Ten papers were identified as studies categorized as alternative slaughter: religious slaughter (n = 6; Bourguet et al, 2011;Ahsan et al, 2014;Bozzo et al, 2018;Alam et al, 2020;Abubakar et al, 2021;Imlan et al, 2021), electrical stunning followed by exsanguination (n = 1; Minka and Ayo, 2007), on-farm and mobile slaughter (n = 2; Hultgren et al, 2020;Hultgren et al, 2022) and conventional slaughter with a head restraint (n = 1; Ewbank et al, 1992).…”

Section: Alternative Slaughter Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All of these studies included one or more of the following measurements to aid in welfare assessment: blood parameters, electroencephalography (EEG) analysis, post-exsanguination animal responses (e.g., signs of insensibility), behavioral reactions to lairage conditions, electrical prod use, pre-slaughter handling (e.g., slipping and falling), and characteristics of the neck cut that could impact welfare (e.g., cuts and stabs). The last study in this category examined the relationship between transport distance and stocking density on the trailer and cortisol response and EEG parameters of animals slaughtered using religious methods (Abubakar et al, 2021). Several of the same or similar welfare outcomes were measured as those found the formal analysis portion of this review.…”

Section: Religious Slaughtermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Often studies focusing on cattle welfare during the pre-slaughter phase include the evaluation of a key predictor on welfare outcomes; for example, research exists studying the effects of: transportation stress on physiological responses (Chacon et al, 2005), animal handling on injuries (Jarvis et al, 1996b;Valadez-Noriega et al, 2018), physiological responses and behavior (Ahsan et al, 2014;Hagenmaier et al, 2017;Hultgren et al, 2020) and lairage duration on behavior and blood constituents (Liotta et al, 2007;Özdemir et al, 2022). Common physiological responses to stress include elevated levels of blood cortisol and catecholamines (e.g., epinephrine) as well as changes in heart rate and body temperature (Burdick et al, 2010;Abubakar et al, 2021). Changes in behaviors vary widely that can be either positive (e.g., lying or ruminating) or negative (e.g., aggressive interactions with other cattle or vocalizing) (Tarrant et al, 1988;Cockram, 1990;Grandin, 1998b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating the impact of pre-slaughter management factors on indicators of fed beef cattle welfare – a scoping review

Davis¹,

Sullivan²,

Bretón³

et al. 2022

Front. Anim. Sci.

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IntroductionThe impact of pre-slaughter management practices on fed beef cattle welfare is a multifaceted and well researched subject matter. Factors such as transportation, handling, lairage time and several animal characteristics can directly impact the cattle’s behavior, mobility, blood lactate and cortisol levels, likelihood of injury and ultimately overall cattle welfare. Animal welfare continues to grow as a critical component of slaughter in the fed beef industry, yet a formal review of related research does not exist.MethodsA scoping review was performed in order to (1) catalog pre-slaughter management factors that impact fed beef cattle welfare at the time of slaughter, (2) identify indicators used to evaluate the impact of pre-slaughter management on fed beef cattle welfare at slaughter, and (3) gain further understanding of the relationship between pre-slaughter management factors and fed beef cattle welfare outcome indicators at slaughter. Three data bases were ultimately searched: PubMed, CAB Abstracts, and Web of Science. The concepts used in the database searches were the population of interest (i.e., fed beef cattle), the location in the supply chain, preslaughter management factors, and welfare outcomes.ResultsA total of 69 studies were included in final analysis for this review, including studies from six geographic regions around the globe. Studies involving alternative slaughter methods (e.g., religious stunning or mobile slaughter) were not included in the formal analysis of this review, but still merited an in-depth discussion within this paper. After reviewing the studies, a total of 37 pre-slaughter factors and 69 indicators of welfare were measured throughout. Pre-slaughter management factors were then categorized by: animal characteristics; environmental characteristics; handling; lairage; transportation; and water/feed. Outcomeindicators of welfare were categorized into: behaviors; health, injury and disease; physiological; and stunning and insensibility.DiscussionPre-slaughter factors relating to transportation and handling, and welfare outcomes measured by behaviors and physiology were of the most researched throughout the studies.The results of this review offer a catalogue of commonly researched factors and indicators of welfare measured during the pre-slaughter phase, as well ast he relationships between them. This review also offers further substantial evidence that a multitude of events in the pre-slaughter phase affect fed beef cattle welfare and a collection of highly applicable welfare indicators to expedite further research on the effects of pre-slaughter factors and the application of improved practices.

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Section: Alternative Slaughter Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Religious Slaughtermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Investigating the impact of pre-slaughter management factors on indicators of fed beef cattle welfare – a scoping review

Davis¹,

Sullivan²,

Bretón³

et al. 2022

Front. Anim. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Creatine kinase ( CK ), lactate, and cortisol are examples of physiological stress indicators routinely measured to assess the stress response of cattle to events such as handling and transport ( Losada-Espinosa et al., 2018 ). CK and lactate are especially useful when assessing stress associated with physical effort or fatigue ( Gruber et al., 2010 ; Thomson et al., 2015 ; Hagenmaier et al., 2017 ), while cortisol—one of the most widely used indicators of stress in cattle—is used to determine an animal’s response to both acute and chronic stressors ( Tadich et al., 2005 ; Romero et al., 2017 ; Abubakar et al., 2021 ). However, cortisol levels can be highly variable and not always indicative of adverse events, so it is typically analyzed alongside other parameters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preslaughter factors affecting mobility, blood parameters, bruising, and muscle pH of finished beef cattle in the United States

Sullivan,

Davis,

Nair

et al. 2024

Translational Animal Science

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Decades of work have focused on reducing fear, stress, and discomfort in cattle during the pre-slaughter phase by improving and promoting animal handling, transportation, and management processes. Even still, there is limited information about the effects of pre-slaughter factors on animal welfare and meat quality outcomes in finished cattle in the United States. This study aimed to track individual animals through the slaughter process to identify pre-slaughter factors associated with key welfare and quality outcomes. A total of 454 cattle from one commercial slaughter facility were studied. Pre-slaughter factors assessed included distance traveled, truck waiting time, lairage density, lairage duration, and season. Animal characteristics, i.e., body weight, breed, and sex, were also recorded. One trained observer scored the mobility of all cattle using the North American Meat Institute’s 1-4 scale (i.e., normal to extremely reluctant to move). Exsanguination blood was collected and analyzed for cortisol, creatine kinase, and lactate. Carcass bruising was scored using a modified version of the National Beef Quality Audit’s bruise scoring methodology (i.e., no bruise, one bruise ≤ the size of a deck of cards, one bruise > than the size of a deck of cards, and multiple bruises). Ultimate muscle pH was measured 32 to 36 hours postmortem. Multi-predictor models were selected for each outcome variable using Akaike Information Criterion. Continuous outcome variables were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models and categorical outcome variables with mixed-effects logistic regression models. Longer truck waiting times were associated with increased cortisol (P = 0.04) and lactate (P = 0.02) concentrations. Similarly, increased lairage duration was associated with increased creatine kinase (P = 0.05) and the odds of cattle being bruised (P = 0.03). Less space allowance per animal in lairage was associated with increased odds of cattle having impaired mobility (P = 0.01). There was a seasonal effect for many of the measured outcomes; the summer season was associated with greater lactate concentrations (P < 0.0001), increased odds of impaired mobility (P < 0.0001), and increased odds of carcass bruising (P = 0.003). The findings of this study indicate that many of the pre-slaughter factors assessed influence critical welfare and meat quality outcomes of finished beef cattle, warranting future research and consideration.

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Pre-slaughter stress mitigation in goats: Prospects and challenges

et al. 2023

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

Cited by 6 publications

References 45 publications

Investigating the impact of pre-slaughter management factors on indicators of fed beef cattle welfare – a scoping review

Investigating the impact of pre-slaughter management factors on indicators of fed beef cattle welfare – a scoping review

Preslaughter factors affecting mobility, blood parameters, bruising, and muscle pH of finished beef cattle in the United States

Pre-slaughter stress mitigation in goats: Prospects and challenges

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