Physiological stress responses and meat quality traits of kids subjected to different pre-slaughter stressors.

ZIMERMAN, M; GRIGIONI, G; TADDEO, H; DOMINGO, E.

JOURNAL OF SMALL RUMINANT RESEARCH

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: New York; Año: 2011 vol. 100 p. 137 - 142

0921-4488

Crossbred Criollo Neuquino castrated male kids, 6 months of age and 24 kg of live weight, were used to investigate the effects of pre-slaughter stressors on physiological characteristics and meat quality attributes. On four separate days, 16 kids were randomly assigned to one of the four pre-slaughter stressor treatments (4 kids per treatment per day): (A) no stress (control); (B) 24 h of food deprivation (fasting); (C) physical stress of forced exercise by an animal handler for 30 min at approximately 3 km/h (exercise); or (D) psychological stress by placing kids in a pen with barking dogs for 5 min (fear). Fasted goats had greater hematocrit, urea and total protein concentrations than controls. Exercised kids had greater cortisol concentration than controls and goats exposed to barking dogs had greater hematocrit and cortisol concentration compared with controls. Even though the stressors imposed on the kids induced changes in blood constituents typically associated with the stress response, the intensity and/or duration of these stressors had little or no effect on meat quality.