Transportation of goats: Effects on physiological stress responses and live weight loss

The management of food animals prior to slaughter influences both profitabi lity and animal well-being. This experiment was conducted as a split-unit d esign 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 m(2) a nd .37 m(2)/animal in LD (25 does) and HD (50 does) groups, respectively. T he 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 be fore loading (PRELOAD) and four does from each treatment were sampled immed iately 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. Indiv idual animals were weighed just before loading onto a trailer and after ove rnight holding to assess shrinkage. Treatment or treatment x time did not h ave a significant effect on any of the dependent variables studied. There w ere 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 neutr ophils 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 h olding. The PUN was higher at 18 h than at other time periods studied. Plas ma 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. Plasm a 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 stre ss on the immune system. The mean (+/- SE) shrinkage losses were 10.2 +/- . 68 and 9.8 + /- .68 in KD and LD treatment groups, respectively. The result s indicate that the stress responses of goats due to transportation begin d ecreasing within 3 h after transportation. However, prolonged holding perio ds without feed may increase stress responses and bring about metabolic cha nges.