Effect Of Environmental Factors On Stress Indicating Parameters In Cattle At The Abbatoir

Summary in the original language of the document

Farm animals experience various stressful situations, of which slaughter is a particularly sensitive event. Improvement of conditions during slaughter are essential to ensure good animal welfare.We identified potential problem areas through guided interviews with slaughterhouse employees and a situation analysis at a Swiss cattle slaughterhouse. After implementation of improvement measures, data from 503 cattle slaughtered in August 2017 were evaluated with regard to the stress-indicating parameters cortisol content in exsanguination blood and proportion of vocalizing animals compared to data of a former study in 2012.The mean cortisol content (3.50 ug/dl) was uncritical and significantly influenced by the driving person and the day. Whereas the high proportion of vocalizing animals of 19.1% was critical. The behaviour of the driving person was also decisive here.We conclude that employee training is the key to further reducing stress-inducing situations during slaughter.