Pre-slaughter stress and horn status influence physiology and meat quality of young bulls.
Animal welfare
Beef cattle
Disbudding
Meat quality
Pre-slaughter stress
Journal
Meat science
ISSN: 1873-4138
Titre abrégé: Meat Sci
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101160862
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
Dec 2019
Dec 2019
Historique:
received:
06
03
2019
revised:
23
04
2019
accepted:
22
07
2019
pubmed:
7
8
2019
medline:
22
1
2020
entrez:
7
8
2019
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
The study used 81 young bulls, half of which were disbudded at 7 weeks of age. The effects of horn status during rearing and of acute physical and emotional stress just before slaughter on the physiological status at slaughter and subsequent meat quality were investigated. Bulls were reared in groups containing i) only bulls with horns, ii) only bulls without horns, or iii) mixed (half with, and half without horns). Bulls of each rearing condition were assigned to one of two slaughter conditions: with limited (LS) or with supplementary stress (SS). LS resulted in lower heart rates, stress hormone concentrations and carcass temperature, whereas SS resulted in faster post mortem pH decline and lower juiciness. Horned bulls from unmixed rearing groups had lower early pm temperature, shorter sarcomeres, and lower tenderness compared to disbudded bulls. Correlations and regression analysis revealed relationships between physiological indicators, mainly heart rate before slaughter, and meat quality, including water-holding capacity and indicators of proteolysis.
Identifiants
pubmed: 31386985
pii: S0309-1740(19)30174-3
doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.107892
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
107892Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.