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Animals
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Validation of Stress Indicators for Animal Welfare Monitoring Preslaughter and/or...
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Validation of Stress Indicators for Animal Welfare Monitoring Preslaughter and/or Early Prediction of Meat Quality Variation

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2020) | Viewed by 15984

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Luigi Faucitano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Sherbrooke R & D Centre, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 0C8, Canada
Interests: Animal Production; Animal Physiology; Meat Quality; Animal Husbandry; Meat Science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of tools for the monitoring of animal welfare preslaughter is increasingly required by the livestock industry in order to avoid loss of profits-related animal losses, and carcass and meat quality downgrading. The demand is for tools allowing no time-consuming, non-invasive, and real-time measurements of stress indicators to be included in a systematic documentation of welfare from farm to slaughter with the objective to identify the animal welfare problem by feed-back mechanisms through the pork chain and correct the cause.

Original manuscripts that address any validation of stress indicators for animal welfare monitoring from farm to slaughter and/or the early prediction of carcass and meat quality variation are invited for this Special Issue.

Dr. Luigi Faucitano
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • animal welfare
  • carcass quality
  • livestock
  • meat quality
  • preslaughter
  • stress indicators

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 547 KiB  
Article
Identification of Possible Pre-Slaughter Indicators to Predict Stress and Meat Quality: A Study on Heavy Pigs
by Luca Sardi, Alessandro Gastaldo, Marzia Borciani, Andrea Bertolini, Valeria Musi, Giovanna Martelli, Damiano Cavallini, Giulia Rubini and Eleonora Nannoni
Animals 2020, 10(6), 945; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10060945 - 29 May 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 3478
Abstract
This study aimed at identifying possible pre-slaughter indicators and/or indexes to be used to predict pig stress response and meat quality variation. Data were collected on 44 shipments (loads) of Italian heavy pigs. For each shipment, several pre-slaughter parameters were recorded on farm, [...] Read more.
This study aimed at identifying possible pre-slaughter indicators and/or indexes to be used to predict pig stress response and meat quality variation. Data were collected on 44 shipments (loads) of Italian heavy pigs. For each shipment, several pre-slaughter parameters were recorded on farm, during transport, and at the slaughterhouse. Blood and meat samples were taken from 10 pigs from every of the 44 loads included in the study (N = 440). Blood samples were used to assess cortisol and creatine kinase levels, whereas meat samples were used to assess meat quality (pH, instrumental color, tenderness, water-holding capacity, and sensory analysis). Cluster analysis of blood parameters allowed the categorization of the shipments into two main clusters: Lower Stress (LS) and Higher Stress (HS). The variables/indexes statistically differing between the two clusters were: average vehicle speed during transport, welfare index at slaughter (i.e., “slaughter score”), overall transport and slaughter welfare index (TSWI), distance travelled, and behaviors (slips, falls, overlaps) during unloading, which appeared to be the best descriptors of the welfare conditions experienced by Italian heavy pigs during pre-slaughter handling. No consistent effects of the stress level experienced on meat quality was detected, which warrants the need for further studies conducted under more variable pre-slaughter conditions, with the aim of simplifying and improving the TSWI. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Validation of Stress Indicators for Animal Welfare Monitoring Preslaughter and/or Early Prediction of Meat Quality Variation)
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18 pages, 313 KiB  
Article
Identifying Physiological Stress Biomarkers for Prediction of Pork Quality Variation
by Nikola Čobanović, Sanja Dj Stanković, Mirjana Dimitrijević, Branko Suvajdžić, Nevena Grković, Dragan Vasilev and Nedjeljko Karabasil
Animals 2020, 10(4), 614; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10040614 - 2 Apr 2020
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 3883
Abstract
This study assessed the potential use of various physiological stress biomarkers as indicators of carcass and meat quality traits in 240 pigs subjected to the standard marketing conditions and minimal stressful antemortem handling using Pearson correlations. The most important pork quality traits (pH [...] Read more.
This study assessed the potential use of various physiological stress biomarkers as indicators of carcass and meat quality traits in 240 pigs subjected to the standard marketing conditions and minimal stressful antemortem handling using Pearson correlations. The most important pork quality traits (pH and temperature, water holding capacity, and color) had limited correlations with stress metabolites (lactate, glucose), stress hormones (cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone), stress enzymes (creatine kinase, aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase), electrolytes (sodium, chloride), and acute-phase proteins (haptoglobin, C-reactive protein, albumin), indicating poor reliability in predicting pork quality. Albumin level was moderately positively correlated with live weight, hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, and back fat thickness. Alanine amino transferase level was moderately positively correlated with live weight, hot carcass weight, and cold carcass weight. Cortisol level was moderately positively correlated with live weight, hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, and back fat thickness, and moderately negatively correlated with the lean carcass content. Increased lactate dehydrogenase level was moderately correlated with decreased drip and cooking loss. In conclusion, lactate dehydrogenase could help pork producers predict pork quality variation, while cortisol, alanine amino transferase, and albumin could be useful in prediction of carcass quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Validation of Stress Indicators for Animal Welfare Monitoring Preslaughter and/or Early Prediction of Meat Quality Variation)
15 pages, 267 KiB  
Article
Associations between Pre-Slaughter and Post-Slaughter Indicators of Animal Welfare in Cull Cows
by Melissa Sánchez-Hidalgo, Carla Rosenfeld and Carmen Gallo
Animals 2019, 9(9), 642; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9090642 - 2 Sep 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3927
Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the welfare of cull cows in a slaughtering plant, using indicators of health on arrival and indicators of handling during the stunning process. These pre-slaughter indicators were associated with post-slaughter indicators of the same cows, [...] Read more.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the welfare of cull cows in a slaughtering plant, using indicators of health on arrival and indicators of handling during the stunning process. These pre-slaughter indicators were associated with post-slaughter indicators of the same cows, such as carcass bruising and condemnations. Transport staff surveys showed that all drivers had been trained on animal welfare. All loads of cows came directly from farms and had an average transport duration of 5 h 22 min. Indicators were registered in 237 cows during unloading at the slaughterhouse and in the stunning box. Bruises and condemnations were recorded post-slaughter in the carcasses of the same cows. Results at arrival showed that 48% of the cows had low body condition, 50% had mammary problems, and 24% suffered from lameness. During stunning, 16% of cows needed a second shot, and 54% exceeded the 60 s established as a recommended interval between stunning and bleeding. During the post-slaughter evaluation, 50% of the carcasses had more than two bruises and 70.46% had a bruise severity score different from zero. Low body condition was a risk factor to increase the severity of bruises; low body condition and mammary problems increased carcass condemnations; the stunning process indicators were not statistically associated with the severity of the bruises. For cull cows the main animal welfare issue originates at farm level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Validation of Stress Indicators for Animal Welfare Monitoring Preslaughter and/or Early Prediction of Meat Quality Variation)
18 pages, 8033 KiB  
Article
Validation of Anatomical Sites for the Measurement of Infrared Body Surface Temperature Variation in Response to Handling and Transport
by Luiene M. Rocha, Nicolas Devillers, Xavier Maldague, Fidèle Z. Kabemba, Julien Fleuret, Fréderic Guay and Luigi Faucitano
Animals 2019, 9(7), 425; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9070425 - 6 Jul 2019
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 3922
Abstract
This study aimed at validating the anatomical sites for the measurement of infrared (IR) body surface temperature as a tool to monitor the pigs’ response to handling and transport stress. The selected anatomical sites were the neck (infrared neck temperature—IRNT), rump (infrared rump [...] Read more.
This study aimed at validating the anatomical sites for the measurement of infrared (IR) body surface temperature as a tool to monitor the pigs’ response to handling and transport stress. The selected anatomical sites were the neck (infrared neck temperature—IRNT), rump (infrared rump temperature—IRRT), orbital (infrared orbital temperature—IROT) and behind ears (infrared behind ears temperature—IRBET) regions. A total of 120 pigs were handled from the finishing pen to the loading dock through a handling test course. Two handling types (gentle vs. rough) and number of laps (1 vs. 3) were applied according to a 2 × 2 factorial design. After loading, pigs were transported for 40 min and returned to their home pens. Animal behavior, heart rate, rectal temperature and salivary cortisol concentration were measured for validation. Increased IR body temperature, heart rate and salivary cortisol levels were observed in response to rough handling and longer distance walk (P < 0.05 for all). The greatest correlations were found between IROT and IRBET temperatures and salivary cortisol concentration at the end of the handling test (r = 0.49 and r = 0.50, respectively; P < 0.001 for both). Therefore, IR pig’s head surface temperature may be useful for a comprehensive assessment of the physiological response to handling and transport stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Validation of Stress Indicators for Animal Welfare Monitoring Preslaughter and/or Early Prediction of Meat Quality Variation)
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