ZEFT.htm

NR ZEFT

AU Außel,M.

TI Belastung von Schlachtschweinen in zwei Zuführungssystemen zur Elektrobetäubung und die Auswirkungen auf das Wohlbefinden

QU Vet. med. Diss. Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover, 2001

PT Dissertation

AB Moving pigs to the stunning point is one of the most important sources of stress in slaughtering pigs. In many abattoirs it is difficult for the drivers to handle pigs carefully during separation and access to the restrainer because these areas are often poorly designed. This may lead to problems which can impair the animals' welfare. This dissertation investigates to what extent constructional measures are able to reduce the stress which occurs during the conveyance to the stunning point. Therefore a conventional conveyance system and a new one, which had been developed in cooperation with the Institute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behaviour of the School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo Hannover), were compared. The investigation included a total of 515 pigs of a German hybrid breeding programme and was divided in two measuring periods which both took place in the same slaughter plant. In the first period 266 pigs were investigated in the conventional system (old system). In the old system the pigs were sent one by one through a single file race which led to the stunning point. The preceding separation of pigs from the group took place in a pen which was located inside the lairage area. After the slaughter plant had been reconstructed the second measuring period took place. It included 249 pigs which now were moved to the stunning point in the new developed conveyance system which design considers ethological aspects (new system). In the new system separation of pigs from the group and access to the restrainer take place in a special room which is visually and acoustically separated from lairage and slaughterin section and the access functions automatically: the pigs are transported to the restrainer by a conveyor belt on which the pigs are standing. In order to judge the extent of a pre-mortal strain the pigs' heart rate (Polar R Accurex Plus) and body temperature (Pillbox R Logger, intravaginal) were continuously measured and blood samples were taken from the sticking blood and via venous catheters and they were analysed vor norepinephrine, epinephrine, cortisol and lactate. Additionally the pigs' behaviour was recorded on video tape. The results show that in the new system the stress pigs experience during the conveyance to the stunning point is lower than in the old system. The pigs' heart rate and body temperature were significantly (p<0,001, p<0,05) lower in the new system than in the old one (new system 168,4 bpm and 39,4 deg C, old system: 189,1 bvpm and 39,6 deg C). Additionally, the concentration of hormonal and biochemical stress indicators in the plasma of blood samples which had been gathered via venous catheters immediately after the access was significantly lower in the new system compared to the old one. The average norepinephrine-level declined from 8,57 nmol/l to 4,89 nmol/l (p<0,001), the concentration of epinephrine was reduced from 2,64 nmol/l to 1,49 nmol/l (p<0,001) and those of lactate from 2,7 mmol/l to 1.9 mmol/l (p<0,001). The concentration of lactate in the sticking blood (old system = 4,49 mmol/l, new system = 2,49 mmol/l, p

SP deutschl

PO Deutschland

Autorenindex - authors index
Startseite Betäubung - home page Stunning