Ricardo Zambarda Vaz , Maryelen Medianeira Martins Dutra , Javier Alexander Bethancourt-Garcia , Leonir Luiz Pascoal , Fabiano Nunes Vaz , Dayana Bernardi Sarzi Sartori , Nathália Pasi Reis , João Restle
{"title":"Intrinsic and environmental factors in the pre-slaughter behavior of beef cattle","authors":"Ricardo Zambarda Vaz , Maryelen Medianeira Martins Dutra , Javier Alexander Bethancourt-Garcia , Leonir Luiz Pascoal , Fabiano Nunes Vaz , Dayana Bernardi Sarzi Sartori , Nathália Pasi Reis , João Restle","doi":"10.1016/j.jveb.2023.05.003","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The effect of pre-slaughter risk factors was evaluated on the behavior of 2,124 batches of steers and 1,937 batches of females. The factors that caused excitable behavior in the batches were sex, handling practices, vehicle load density, travel time and carcass fat. Sex had the greatest influence on behavior, with the female batches being 70.7% more likely to display excitable behavior. In the overall analysis, the condition of the installations and the handling practices influenced the appearance of excitable behavior in the female batches, which increased by 31.1% and 38.8% when the conditions were regular and inappropriate, respectively, compared to when the handling was appropriate; behavior in the batches of steers was also affected. There was a greater chance of excitable behavior appearing in batches where the journey lasted longer than 360 min, when the batches were analyzed together or when separated by sex. Increases in load density (kg/m<sup>2</sup><span>) caused a greater chance of excitable behavior regardless of the sex of the cattle. In animals with a calmer behavior, the fat cover on the carcass was thicker. Appropriate handling on the farms, and care with animal welfare when loading and transporting the cattle, determine less-reactive behavior.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":17567,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Veterinary Behavior-clinical Applications and Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Veterinary Behavior-clinical Applications and Research","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1558787823000552","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
The effect of pre-slaughter risk factors was evaluated on the behavior of 2,124 batches of steers and 1,937 batches of females. The factors that caused excitable behavior in the batches were sex, handling practices, vehicle load density, travel time and carcass fat. Sex had the greatest influence on behavior, with the female batches being 70.7% more likely to display excitable behavior. In the overall analysis, the condition of the installations and the handling practices influenced the appearance of excitable behavior in the female batches, which increased by 31.1% and 38.8% when the conditions were regular and inappropriate, respectively, compared to when the handling was appropriate; behavior in the batches of steers was also affected. There was a greater chance of excitable behavior appearing in batches where the journey lasted longer than 360 min, when the batches were analyzed together or when separated by sex. Increases in load density (kg/m2) caused a greater chance of excitable behavior regardless of the sex of the cattle. In animals with a calmer behavior, the fat cover on the carcass was thicker. Appropriate handling on the farms, and care with animal welfare when loading and transporting the cattle, determine less-reactive behavior.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research is an international journal that focuses on all aspects of veterinary behavioral medicine, with a particular emphasis on clinical applications and research. Articles cover such topics as basic research involving normal signaling or social behaviors, welfare and/or housing issues, molecular or quantitative genetics, and applied behavioral issues (eg, working dogs) that may have implications for clinical interest or assessment.
JVEB is the official journal of the Australian Veterinary Behaviour Interest Group, the British Veterinary Behaviour Association, Gesellschaft fr Tierverhaltensmedizin und Therapie, the International Working Dog Breeding Association, the Pet Professional Guild, the Association Veterinaire Suisse pour la Medecine Comportementale, and The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior.