Abstract:
During the preslaughter phase, cattle are transported from their place of origin to a slaughter facility, experiencing transportation, lairage, environmental factors, and novel environments. Although research exists that has focused how the preslaughter phase impacts cattle welfare and meat quality, some significant preslaughter management factors and subsequent welfare and meat quality outcomes have not been thoroughly explored. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of preslaughter management factors on welfare and meat quality outcomes in fed beef cattle in the United States. Transportation factors, environmental characteristics, lairage factors, cattle characteristics, and several meat quality variables were collected from 5 federally inspected commercial processing facilities in the United States. After excluding slaughter lots that included <75% complete datasets, a total of 619 slaughter lots representing 84,508 head of cattle were used for further analysis. Predictor variables of interest included processing plant, cattle breed, sex class, operation shift at the plant, distance traveled to the plant, truck waiting time to unload at the plant, lairage duration and space allowance, temperature humidity index, and windspeed. Outcome variables of interest included cattle mobility, carcass bruising, dark cutting (DC), quality grades, and hot carcass weights. Logistic and linear regressions were used to analyze the associations between the predictor and outcome variables of interest. Increased distance traveled and truck waiting time were associated with higher odds of mobility impairment (P = 0.0009 and P = 0.007, respectively), with each 10 km increase in distance traveled having an odds ratio (OR) of 1.001 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.000 to 1.001) and each 1-min increase in waiting time having an OR of 1.003 (CI: 1.001 to 1.004). Conversely, a 10-km increase in distance traveled decreased the odds of carcass bruising (OR: 0.997, CI: 0.996 to 0.998; P < 0.0001). Longer lairage was associated with increased odds of DC (P = 0.0415), with each 60-min increase in duration having an OR of 1.034 (CI: 1.001 to 1.068). The results demonstrate the importance of truck arrival management (i.e., scheduling, prioritizing unloading) on mobility. Focusing on lairage management (i.e., density and time) may provide some opportunities to improve meat quality.
摘要:
在预笑阶段,牛被从其原产地运送到屠宰设施,体验交通,莱尔奇,环境因素,新颖的环境。尽管有研究集中在预告片阶段如何影响牛的福利和肉质,一些重要的预喜管理因素以及随后的福利和肉质结果尚未得到彻底探索。这项研究的目的是评估预喜管理因素对美国饲喂肉牛的福利和肉质结果的影响。运输因素,环境特征,莱尔系数,牛的特点,并从美国5个联邦检查的商业加工设施中收集了几个肉质变量。在排除包含<75%完整数据集的屠宰批次后,共有619个屠宰批次,代表84,508头牛,用于进一步分析。感兴趣的预测器变量包括加工厂,牛品种,性爱课,工厂的运营班次,到达植物的距离,卡车等待在工厂卸货的时间,帧持续时间和空间津贴,温度湿度指数,和风速。感兴趣的结果变量包括牛的流动性,尸体瘀伤,暗切(DC),质量等级,和热的car体重量。使用Logistic和线性回归分析预测变量和结果变量之间的关联。增加的行驶距离和卡车等待时间与更高的机动性障碍几率相关(分别为P=0.0009和P=0.007),行进距离每增加10km,比值比(OR)为1.001(95%置信区间[CI]:1.000至1.001),等待时间每增加1分钟,OR为1.003(CI:1.001至1.004)。相反,行进距离增加10公里可降低car体瘀伤的几率(OR:0.997,CI:0.996至0.998;P<0.0001)。较长的树龄与DC的几率增加相关(P=0.0415),持续时间每增加60分钟,OR为1.034(CI:1.001至1.068)。结果证明了卡车到达管理的重要性(即,调度,优先卸载)。专注于分类管理(即,密度和时间)可能会提供一些改善肉质的机会。