HANDLING OF SHEEP AT MARKETS AND THE INCIDENCE OF BRUISING

Most sheep sent for slaughter in the United Kingdom are sold through l ivestock markets. This study counted the potentially bruising events a t two markets handling 12,119 sheep in 549 groups and recorded the bru ises on carcases of sheep from these markets. There were 1324 and 744 potentially bruising events per 1000 sheep at markets A and B, respect ively. The unloading of 1501 sheep in 40 groups and the pre-slaughter handling of 1085 sheep in 60 groups were observed at the commercial sl aughterhouse where the bruises were recorded. The number of potentiall y bruising events at the slaughterhouse was 694 per 1000 sheep. The br uising on the carcases of 58 groups of sheep from market A and 29 grou ps from market B, and of 30 groups of sheep sent to slaughter direct f rom farms was assessed. The sheep from market A had 581 bruises per 10 00 sheep, those from market B had 377 per 1000 sheep, and the sheep se nt direct from farms had 399 bruises per 1000 sheep. There were some d ifferences in the distribution of the bruises on the carcases from the three sources, but no significant differences between the total numbe rs of bruises.