title: Transportation of goats: effects on physiological stress responses and live weight loss.
abstract: The management of food animals prior to slaughter influences both profitability and animal well-being. This experiment was conducted as a split-unit design to determine live weight shrink and stress responses in goats due to differences in stocking density during transportation and holding. A total of 150 Spanish does were transported on two different days (replicate) and held overnight (18 h) without feed in low- (LD) or high-density (HD) groups. On each day, 75 does were transported 2.5 h with floor spaces of .18 m2 and .37 m2/animal in LD (25 does) and HD (50 does) groups, respectively. The average temperatures in the trailer during transportation were 34.6 and 35 degrees C, respectively, on d 1 and 2. All animals were blood-sampled before loading (PRELOAD) and four does from each treatment were sampled immediately after loading (POSTLOAD). Animals were blood-sampled in holding pens either at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 18 h after transportation (time) to assess the time course (n = 8 does per time per replicate) of stress responses. Individual animals were weighed just before loading onto a trailer and after overnight holding to assess shrinkage. Treatment or treatment x time did not have a significant effect on any of the dependent variables studied. There were significant effects of time (P < .01) on plasma cortisol, glucose, and urea nitrogen (PUN) concentrations. Time also had significant effects (P < .01) on plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity, differential leukocyte counts (neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, and eosinophils), and ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes (N:L). However, plasma leptin concentrations were not influenced by time. Cortisol concentrations increased at POSTLOAD sampling, peaked at 0 h, and decreased thereafter before spiking again at 18 h of holding. The PUN was higher at 18 h than at other time periods studied. Plasma glucose concentrations increased and remained at higher levels at 0, 1, and 2 h and began decreasing at 3 h, reaching PRELOAD levels at 18 h. Plasma CK kinase activity peaked at approximately 2 h after transportation. The N:L ratio was higher at all time periods after transportation than prior to starting the journey, indicating a prolonged effect of transportation stress on the immune system. The mean (+/- SE) shrinkage losses were 10.2 +/- .68 and 9.8 +/- .68 in HD and LD treatment groups, respectively. The results indicate that the stress responses of goats due to transportation begin decreasing within 3 h after transportation. However, prolonged holding periods without feed may increase stress responses and bring about metabolic changes.
authors.affiliation: Agricultural Research Station, Fort Valley State University, GA 31030, USA. govindak@mail.fvsu.edu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kannan
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Terrill
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kouakou
authors.forename: O S
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Gazal
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gelaye
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Amoah
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Samaké
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001806:Blood Urea Nitrogen; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006041:Goats; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D014186:Transportation; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D020738:Leptin; D003402:Creatine Kinase; D006854:Hydrocortisone