Preslaughter stress and beef quality in relation to slaughter transport of cattle

Sammanfattning

Preslaughter handling inevitably exposes cattle to stress, which affects beef quality and yields. Short transports to the slaughterhouse or a short walk across the yard to a mobile abattoir parked on the farm may reduce stress, with potential beneficial effects on meat quality. To compare different road transport distances to a stationary (fixed) slaughterhouse, and the stationary plant with a mobile abattoir, we studied commercial slaughter of 298 cattle in each facility over a period of 13 months. For the stationary slaughterhouse, the estimated transport distance from farm to plant was 7-250 km (mean 99 km) and 96 animals spent one night in lairage there. All animals at both slaughterhouses were stunned with a captive bolt gun. Blood levels of cortisol, glucose and lactate at exsanguination and meat quality indicators were recorded. According to two-sample t-tests, thawing loss was 1 percent unit lower (p

Nyckelord

Compressive load; On-farm slaughter; Shear force; Stress; Tenderness

Publicerad i

Livestock Science
2022, volym: 264, artikelnummer: 105073
Utgivare: ELSEVIER

SLU författare

• Hultgren, Jan

  • Institutionen för tillämpad husdjursvetenskap och välfärd, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Arvidsson Segerkvist, Katarina

  • Institutionen för tillämpad husdjursvetenskap och välfärd, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Berg, Lotta

  • Institutionen för tillämpad husdjursvetenskap och välfärd, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Karlsson, Anders

  • Institutionen för tillämpad husdjursvetenskap och välfärd, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Algers, Bo

  • Institutionen för tillämpad husdjursvetenskap och välfärd, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

UKÄ forskningsämne

Husdjursvetenskap

Publikationens identifierare

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2022.105073

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/119651