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

Abstract

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

Keywords

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

Published in

Livestock Science
2022, volume: 264, article number: 105073
Publisher: ELSEVIER

SLU Authors

• Hultgren, Jan

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Arvidsson Segerkvist, Katarina

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Berg, Lotta

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Karlsson, Anders

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Algers, Bo

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Animal and Dairy Science

Publication identifier

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

Permanent link to this page (URI)

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