Animal Bioscience

Asian Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies (아세아태평양축산학회)
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Behavioral, physiological, and hormonal responses during pre-slaughter handling in goats: a comparison between trained and untrained handlers

  • Pavan Kumar (Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Universiti Putra Malaysia) ;
  • Ahmed Abubakar Abubakar (Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Universiti Putra Malaysia) ;
  • Muideen Adewale Ahmed (Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Universiti Putra Malaysia) ;
  • Muhammad Nizam Hayat (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia) ;
  • Fakhrullah Abd Halim (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia) ;
  • Md. Moklesur Rahman (Halal Products Research Institute, Universiti Putra Malaysia) ;
  • Mokrish Ajat (Department of Veterinary Preclinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia) ;
  • Ubedullah Kaka (Halal Products Research Institute, Universiti Putra Malaysia) ;
  • Yong-Meng Goh (Department of Veterinary Preclinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia) ;
  • Awis Qurni Sazili (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia)
  • Received : 2024.01.28
  • Accepted : 2024.04.15
  • Published : 2024.11.01
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Abstract

Objective: The livestock handler attitude and their handling of animals is crucial for improving animal welfare standards, minimizing stress, improving productivity and meat quality. The present study was undertaken to assess the effect of training livestock handlers on behavioral, physiological, and hormonal responses during preslaughter handling in goats. Methods: A total of 6 handlers were divided into trained (trained in basic animal handling practices, animal behavior, and animal welfare), contact trained (not trained directly but interacted and saw the working of trained handlers), and untrained groups (no formal training). The handling experiment was conducted on 18 male goats by following a crossover design. The goats were moved from lairage to slaughter point by trained, contact-trained, and untrained handlers. Various behavioral, physiological, and hormonal parameters were recorded at the lairage before handling and at the slaughter point after handling the goats. Results: The training of livestock handlers had a significant effect on behavioral, physiological, and hormonal responses in goats. The goats handled by untrained and contact-trained handlers were recorded with intense vocalization, significant (p<0.05) increase in heart rate and blood glucose, and catecholamines (adrenaline and nor-adrenaline), thereby indicating stress and poor animal welfare. The trained handlers were observed to use visual interactions (waving of hands or objects, blocking, hand raising, etc), and lower stress responses were recorded in the goats handled by this group. Conclusion: The present study highlights the importance of training to livestock handlers in improving animal welfare and minimizing stress in goats during pre-slaughter stress.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The first author, Pavan Kumar, is thankful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India, for providing the Netaji Subhas ICAR International Fellowship for pursuing his doctoral study at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

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