Physiological responses of food animals to road transportation stress

The increasing demand in proteins to feed the ever-growing world population has necessitated the industrialization and transportation of livestock using different means of transportation across several ecological zones with different climatic conditions. The stress factors acting on animals during road transportation are numerous and the responses of the animal to them are complex, non-specific and often detrimental to their health and productivity. In spite of the numerous recommendations and guidelines by many countries on the welfare of animal transport order and their streaked compliance by transporters, several studies still report severe welfare problems during road transportation of food animals. This review, in a new approach examines the effects of individual or the combination of road transport stress factors, such as: handling, loading, unloading, vehicle type and design, type of road and driving methods, vehicle noise and vibration, stocking rate/density, journey duration, climatic conditions and the general animal welfare implication on different physiological parameters of transported food animals. The review provides an insight on the physiological responses of animals to transport stress and possible areas of intervention and adoption of improved and innovative management strategies toward improving the welfare of the transported animals.Key words: Animal welfare, food animal, stress, road transportation

Ameliorative effects of ascorbic acid on rectal temperature, excitability score and liveweight of rabbits transported by road

This experiment was performed with the aim of investigating the effects of ascorbic acid (AA) on stress due to road transportation of rabbits. Nine rabbits administered AA served as the treated animals, while seven others given sterile water were used as the controls. All the rabbits were transported by road for 2 h under standard conditions, and their rectal temperature (RT), excitability score and liveweight values were recorded before, during and after the transportation. The results showed that road transportation was stressful to all the rabbits, as evidenced by an increase in RT values of both the treated and control animals after the transportation. Post-transportation RT value in the control rabbits (39.67 ± 0.41°C) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of the treated rabbits (39.0 ± 0.16°C). The excitability scores of the rabbits decreased considerably following road transportation, especially in the control rabbits that were not administered AA. The liveweights of both the treated and control rabbits decreased on arrival. On day 1 post-transportation, the control rabbits lost 2.70% of the pretransportation liveweight, while the treated rabbits gained 2.37% of the pre-transportation liveweight. In conclusion, the administration of AA to rabbits prior to the commencement of the journey ameliorated the adverse effects of stress due to road transportation.Key words: Road transportation, rectal temperature, liveweight, excitability score, ascorbic acid, rabbits

Effects of road transportation on excitability scores of pigs administered with ascorbic acid during the hot-dry season

This study was carried out in order to determine the effect of eight-hour road transportation on the excitability scores of pigs administered ascorbic acid (AA) during the hot-dry season in Northern Nigeria. Thirteen experimental pigs were administered with AA orally at 100 mg/kg, while ten control pigs were given only distilled water orally. Excitability score of each pig was determined 30 min before and immediately after transportation by a single ‘blind’ observer during weighing. An excitability score of 4 indicated the highest excitability. Percent excitability of experimental and control pigs with each score was also determined. Post-transportation, an increase in the percentage of experimental pigs with excitability score of 4 was recorded (38.5 to 69.2%), while a decrease was obtained in the control pigs (40.0 to 10%). Road transportation decreased the excitability scores and percent excitability in control pigs with high scores. In conclusion, administration of AA increased the nervous excitability of pigs transported by road during the hot-dry season in northern Nigeria

Implementation of herd health program to improve survival of Boer goats in Malaysia.

A Boer goat breeding farm with 800 heads of breeder females, 50 breeder males, and 400 growing goats of various ages in Sabah, Malaysia was selected to study the effect of implementing herd health program. This included vaccination program against pneumonic mannheimiosis; fecal monitoring for helminthiasis, coccidiosis, and colibacillosis; and introduction of modified feeding regime comprised of day-time grazing and feeding of cut grass and supplemented feed. The herd health program was implemented in September 2007 and the impact was observed on body weight gains, body scoring, and annual mortality among adults and kids. It was found that implementation of herd health program significantly (p<0. 05) increased the average body weight gains in both adults and kids from 1. 8 g per kid and 0. 6 g per adult in 2006 to 3. 7 g per kid and 2. 2 g per adult in 2008. The percentage of adults with body scoring of <3 was significantly (p<0. 05) reduced from 82. 3% in 2006 to 77. 6% in 2007 and 4% in 2008. Similarly, the annual mortality rate was significantly (p<0. 05) reduced from 6. 5% among kids and 58. 2% among adults in 2006 to 12. 1% among kids and 10. 4% among adults in 2007, and to 9. 1% among kids and 1. 1% among adults in 2008. Therefore, it was concluded that implementation of herd health program significantly improved the survival and performance of goats

Evaluation of the Performance of Farmed Ostrich Chicks to Juvenile Age in Northern Nigeria

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Liveweight And Its Effects On Work Output In Northern Nigeria White Fulani Draught Oxen

The working performance of indigenous draught oxen under small holder management in northern Nigeria was investigated. The oxen, belonging to the White Fulani breed were paired and harnessed into groups I, II and III with liveweights of 300 – 350, 360 – 400 and 410 – 450 kg, respectively. The working performance of each pair of oxen was monitored five times within three months of ploughing. During ploughing, oxen in group I, II and III lost 15, 14 and 13% of their preploughing liveweights, respectively, and gained during three months post ploughing period 4, 6 and 9% of their preploughing liveweights, respectively. The area ploughed per day was largest (0.30 ± 0.01hacter) for oxen in group III. The working speed and work duration of oxen rose as their liveweights increased (r = 0.996, P < 0.001). The highest effective working time (EWT) was recorded in group III oxen and the lowest for those in group II. There was a direct and significant relationship between liveweights of oxen and their draught forces (r = 0.833, P < 0.001). The highest value of 559.8 ± 1.3N was recorded for oxen in group III, which also had the highest power output of 457.5 ± 11.3W. It is concluded that the best preploughing liveweight for optimum performance by the oxen in the area ranged between 410 – 450 kg. Keywords: draught, group, liveweight, oxen, ploughing African Journal of Livestock Extension Vol. 5 2007: pp. 53-6