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Effects of a maximum permissible journey time (31 h) on physiological responses of fleeced and shorn sheep to transport, with observations on behaviour during a short (1 h) rest-stop

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

R. F. Parrott ,
S. J. G. Hall ,
D. M. Lloyd ,
J. A. Goode  and
D. M. Broom
R. F. Parrott
Affiliation:
MAFF Laboratory of Welfare and Behaviour, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge CB2 4AT
S. J. G. Hall
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES
D. M. Lloyd
Affiliation:
MAFF Laboratory of Welfare and Behaviour, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge CB2 4AT
J. A. Goode
Affiliation:
MAFF Laboratory of Welfare and Behaviour, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge CB2 4AT
D. M. Broom
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES
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Abstract

Concern for the welfare of export lambs during long-distance road transport has prompted much research and a recommended change in procedure. The latter envisages an absolute maximum journey time of 31 h and includes a rest-stop (minimum duration 1 h) for feeding and watering. In the present experiment, the physiological and behavioural responses to this new protocol have been investigated in fleeced and shorn lambs (no. = 10 per group) provided with venous catheters and heart rate monitors. The two groups were loaded on a vehicle into separate adjacent pens and driven for 14 h; then unloaded into a lairage, where their behaviour was recorded. After 1 h they were reloaded and driven for a further 15·5 h, finally arriving at a slaughterhouse where carcass condition was evaluated. Blood samples collected at 30- or 60-min intervals by experimenters travelling with the animals were analysed to determine haematocrit, plasma osmolality, plasma concentrations of glucose, creatinine phosphokinase (CPK), and the stress-responsive hormones, cortisol, prolactin, adrenaline and noradrenaline. The results showed that haematocrit increased after loading although the general trend during transport, as with osmolality, was a decline (P < 0·05). No significant changes in plasma glucose were detected but CPK increased in fleeced lambs after loading (P < 0·05). Cortisol release was stimulated by loading, especially in fleeced sheep (P < 0·001) but returned to home pen values within 6 h; heart rates changed in a similar manner. Transport did not markedly affect prolactin release although concentrations were consistently greater in fleeced sheep (P < 0·001). Noradrenaline, however, tended to be higher in shorn animals (P < 0·05). In lairage, both groups readily consumed hay, and especially concentrates, but the shorn lambs spent more time eating (P < 0·001). None of the shorn sheep, and only a few fleeced animals, drank water. There was no evidence for differences in weight loss between the two groups during the experiment and carcass quality at slaughter was within the normal expected range. The implications of these, and other related studies, for future transport policy are discussed, with particular reference to rest-stop duration and handling procedures.

Keywords

behaviourhormonessheeptransportwelfare
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , February 1998 , pp. 197 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1998

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