The effect of crate height on the behavior of female turkeys during commercial pre-slaughter transportation.

Autor: Di Martino G; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy., Capello K; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy., Stefani AL; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy., Tripepi L; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy., Garbo A; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy., Speri M; ULSS 20, Verona, Italy., Trolese M; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy., Brichese M; Veneto Region, Venezia, Italy., Marangon S; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy., Bonfanti L; Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Animal science journal = Nihon chikusan Gakkaiho [Anim Sci J] 2017 Oct; Vol. 88 (10), pp. 1651-1657. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 May 26.
DOI: 10.1111/asj.12823
Abstrakt: Limited information is available on suitable height of transport crates for turkeys. We compared behaviors and physiological indicators of four groups of 10 female turkeys each confined in either conventional (38.5 cm height) or experimental (77 cm height) crates during six commercial pre-slaughter transportations for 86 km (76 ± 4 min) along two tracts with one-lane streets, crossroads, bends, roundabouts (S1 and S2) and a highway tract (H) between S1 and S2. Only 36% of birds in the higher crates maintained a standing position. In conventional versus experimental crates, the frequency of rising attempts was five/bird/hour versus less than one/bird/hour, while wing flapping was seven/bird/hour versus 20/bird/hour, and balance loss was one versus four/bird/hour. The behaviors of both groups differed significantly according to the route tract, with a lower frequency of stress-related behaviors at H. No scratches, fractures or hematomas were detected in any birds after transportation. Crate height had no significant effect on hemato-biochemical markers. These results suggest that crates enabling a standing position may increase potentially dangerous behaviors. Moreover, busy and curvy routes should be avoided, as they may contribute to increasing the frequency of stress-related behaviors.
(© 2017 Japanese Society of Animal Science.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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