The effect of repeated lamb removal on the blood leukocyte population of ewes was examined and the behavioural and endocrine responses to the stressor quantified. 12 ewes which had given birth to twins, were placed in separate pens with their lambs. After 13 days, the lambs (14-19 days old) from one...

Suffolk × Greyface lambs, 16 weeks of age, weighing 30-40 kg, were transported by road, confined on a stationary vehicle or received no treatment (controls). The effects of 24 h continuous transport or confinement were compared with those of 12 h treatment followed by 12 h lairage, 3 h lairage or 3...

In a 2×2 factorial design, 6 sheep were either transported by road for 15 h or kept in their home pens, and then either starved for 12 h with access to water or offered hay ad libitum with access to water. All groups were offered hay and water 12 h after transport. Behavioural observations and meas...

The preslaughter handling and behaviour, and subsequent bruising was observed in 40 groups of sheep in a commercial slaughterhouse. A greater percentage of bruised carcasses was found in lambs (71%) than in ewes (49%). A greater percentage of severely bruised carcasses was found in lambs from market...

The pre-slaughter handling, behaviour and blood composition of beef cattle at slaughter was studied in a commercial slaughterhouse. The main problems identified were the routine use of driving instruments and delays caused by stoppages in the slaughter line. The plasma concentration of cortisol at t...

Behavioural observations and physiological measurements were made on weaned lambs (35 kg) before, during and either after stationary confinement or transport for 12 h at 4 space allowances (0.22, 0.27, 0.31 and 0.41 m²/sheep). Two groups were not loaded (a control group with access to food anf wate...

This article describes the teaching of animal handling at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, as part of an animal husbandry course during the first two years of the veterinary curriculum. Basic methods of handling and restraint appropriate for the wide range of a...

The behaviour of 2 groups of sheep was observed when they were placed in a pen on wooden slats and/or straw bedding for 48 h. When sheep were placed in the pen and not given a choice of slats and straw, the proportion of scans spent standing and lying by one group of sheep were not affected by floor...

This paper discusses the potential for using observations of behaviour to recognise distress in sheep. The term distress is used to describe situations in which an animal is likely to be suffering, and is indicating this by overt behavioural signs. Literature on the behavioural responses of sheep to...

It is the view of many organisations that, whenever possible, it is more appropriate to slaughter animals close to their source of production and transport the carcass rather than transport sentient live animals for slaughter, when long journeys may put their welfare at risk. However, more evidence ...

This experiment describes the implications of red deer being kept in pens in close proximity to other species as may occur during abattoir lairage. 20 groups of 5 male yearling red deer were used to study behavioural and physiological responses over a 2-h period to 1 of 5 treatments: red deer penned...

One-hundred and thirty-five groups of cattle were observed in a slaughterhouse lairage. Groups of cattle that arrived direct from farms took longer to lie down and spent less time lying down than those that arrived from markets. In 72 groups, the majority of time was spent with no animals in the gro...

This chapter discusses the animal welfare implications of sheep transport, particularly sheep behaviour during road transport, the injuries associated with transport, stress response and thermoregulation and effects of transport on weight loss, meat quality and food safety. A brief discussion of sea...

The effects of space allowance during transportation and duration of a mid-journey lairage period on measurements of stress, injury, dehydration, food restriction and rest in young calves were assessed during and after transport. Groups of calves were transported for two 9-h journeys (at a space all...

This paper comprises brief descriptions by faculty at 13 veterinary schools in Europe, North America, South America, and Australasia that summarize undergraduate training in animal welfare at the respective schools and how students are assessed.

In a 2×2 factorial experiment, groups of 6 sheep were moved from individual pens where they had access to hay and water to environmental chambers kept at either 14°C or 21°C. Within each chamber, half the sheep had access to water but they were all kept at a space allowance of 0.41 m²/sheep with...

An operant crate and a push-door were used to measure feeding motivation in Suffolk sheep (2-4 years of age) after 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 h without feed. In experiment 1 (n=12), sheep had to push a panel with their noses to obtain a feed reward. In experiment 2 (n=14), sheep had to run a race and push ...

Most sheep sent for slaughter in the United Kingdom are sold through livestock markets. This study counted the potentially bruising events at 2 markets handling 12 119 sheep from 549 groups and recorded the bruises on carcases of sheep from these markets. There were 1324 and 744 potentially bruising...

The bruising of sheep carcases results in economic losses to the meat industry and is one indicator of welfare problems before slaughter. In this study the numbers of potentially bruising events and the transport conditions of sheep taken directly from farms to a slaughter house were related to the ...

The resting behaviour of 64 groups of sheep was observed in the lairages of 2 slaughterhouses after transport for about 4 hours in a commercial livestock transporter. The sheep were watched at 5 minute intervals for the initial 3 hours in the lairage pen. The median percentage of time spent lying pe...

Biochemical measurements of stress and injury were determined in 112 groups of sheep arriving at a commercial abattoir either from farms (71 groups, n=1829), local markets (21 groups, n=2125) or distant markets (20 groups, n=3145). Sheep from farms had significantly fewer bruises (0.08/sheep) than t...

Scan samples of the postural, eating and drinking behaviours of 92 groups of cattle, and focal samples of the eating and drinking behaviour of 378 individuals, were made during the initial 3 h in a commercial slaughterhouse lairage. Cattle which arrived from markets spent more time drinking and lay ...

The handling of 39 cattle during unloading and movement to slaughter of 163 was observed at a commercial abattoir. Most potentially traumatic events and handling events occurred while the cattle were in the race. During the initial 3 hours in the lairage pen, 28 cattle from markets spent significant...

This study quantified potentially traumatic events during handling (350 groups; n=3296), and the effect of source and sex class on the occurrence of carcass bruising of cattle (339 groups; n=3270) at 2 commercial slaughterhouses. A mean of 0.13 and 0.97 potentially traumatic events per animal occurr...

Methods to assess changes in the mental state of animals in response to their environment can be used to provide information to enhance animal welfare. One of the most profound changes of mental state observable in mammals is the change between wakefulness and sleep. Sleeping mammals have characteri...