• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2007

One hundred and forty-four cross-bred market pigs weighing approximately 110 kg were randomly divided into six groups in a 3 (duration of fasting prior to loading; 0, 12 and 24 h) ${\times}$ 2 (handling stress; minimal vs stimulated handling stress) factorial arrangement of treatments. The stimulated handling stress group received overally rough handling including electric prod stimulation during loading, transport and lairage at least once at each step. All the animals received 3-h lairage prior to slaughter. Blood and longissimus dorsi muscle (LM) samples were taken at slaughter and after overnight chilling of the carcass, respectively. Mean plasma glucose concentration, as expected, was less in the 12 h- or 24 h-fasting group than in the 0 h-fasting, whereas cortisol concentration was greater (P<0.05) in the 24 h- vs 0 h-fasting group. Plasma concentrations of stress indicators glucose, cortisol, creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase were greater in the stimulated vs minimal handling stress group. There were no interactions between the duration of fasting and handling stress in their effects on these blood variables. The incidence of pale, soft and exudative (PSE) carcass and drip loss of LM were reduced in the 12 h- or 24 h- vs 0 h-fasting group, whereas the 24-h postmortem LM pH and color including the lightness and redness were not affected by the duration of fasting. The incidence of PSE carcass and physicochemical characteristics of LM, however, were not changed by the stimulated vs minimal handling stress. In conclusion, results suggest that fasting the market pig overnight prior to transport is desirable in terms of reducing the incidence of PSE carcass. Rough handling of market pigs may not affect the carcass quality of the animals when an enough lairage time is provided. However, rough handling inflicts a stimulated stress on the animal, which is manifested by increased blood concentrations of stress indicators, and therefore should be avoided fer animal welfare.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2011

One hundred and forty-four cross-bred market pigs weighing approximately 110 kg were randomly divided into four groups in a 2 (handling stress; minimal vs stimulated) ${\times}$ 2 (transport vehicle type; enclosed box vs conventional open) factorial arrangement of treatments. The stimulated handling stress group received overally rough handling including electric prod stimulation during loading, transport and lairage at least once at each step. All the animals received 3-h lairage prior to slaughter. Blood and longissimus dorsi muscle (LM) samples were taken at slaughter and after overnight chilling of the carcass, respectively. Plasma concentrations of stress indicators glucose, cortisol, creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase were greater in the stimulated vs minimal handling stress group. There were no interactions between the handling stress and transport vehicle type in their effects on these blood variables. The incidence of pale, soft and exudative (PSE) carcass and drip loss of LM, 24-h postmortem LM pH and color including the lightness and redness were not affected by the handling stress and transport vehicle type. In conclusion, results suggest that rough handling inflicts a stimulated stress on the animal, which is manifested by increased blood concentrations of stress indicators, and therefore should be avoided for animal welfare.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.244-252
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• 1999

Intensive selection for muscle development and against fat deposition in pigs during the last 50 years has contributed to the increased incidence of porcine stress syndrome (PSS) and pale soft exudative pork (PSE). Genetics, nutrition and management, preslaughter animal handling, stunning, dehairing and carcass chilling influence the incidence and magnitude of the PSE condition. The normal incidence of PSE has been reported to range from 10 to 30%, but in some isolated instances is up to 60%. The elimination of halothane-positive pigs in breeding programs has reduced PSS and PSE. Further improvements in meat quality by terminal sire evaluation and selection can be achieved within halothane-negative populations because around 20% of the variation in meat color and water binding capacity seems to be genetically related. Pre-slaughter handling on the farm, during transit to the packing plant and at the packing plant can greatly influence the meat quality, contributing 10 to 25% of the variation. An effective stunning method, skinning instead of scalding/dehairing and rapid post-slaughter chilling further reduce the incidence of PSE pork. In addition to proper care and handling a carcass-merit based marketing system, that reflected the value differential between desirable and undesirable meat quality in the pricing system for pigs, would provide a great incentive to change pork production systems in order to improve meat quality, thus improving the image and usefulness of pork as food.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.37-50
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of on-farm management systems(including the farm size, stocking density of growing-finishing phase, proportion of finisher diet and type of growing-finishing building) and pre-slaughter handling(including the transportation time and loading time) on carcass grade, the incidence of PSE pork, the meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat, subcutaneous fat and score for elasticity of market pigs. For this study, 248,787 pigs of 53 different farms were used to establish the pork quality assurance program and to meet the comsumer's need. The results are summarized as follows. 1. The farm size had significant influence on carcass grade, in which showing the higher grade by increasing the farm size. However, the incidence of PSE pork were not significantly differences among the farm size. The meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat, subcutaneous fat and score for elasticity of market pigs were not significant influenced by farm size. 2. The stocking density of growing-finishing phase was statistically significant for carcass grade, in which showing the higher grade in mid density group. However, the incidence of PSE pork was higher in high density group. The meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat and elasticity of market pigs were greater in mid density groups, but not influenced by stocking density for subcutaneous fat score. 3. The carcass grade and the incidence of PSE pork were not significantly influenced by transportation time. However, transportation time significantly affected the meat quality score, the meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat, subcutaneous fat and elasticity of the carcasses were superior in more than 1 hour transportation groups. 4. At any time loading, the carcass grade and PSE incidence were not significantly differences. However, the meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat and elasticity of market pigs were superior in before 10 AM groups, but not influenced by loading time for subcutaneous fat score. 5. The proportion of finisher diet had not significant influence on carcass grade, but PSE incidence affected by proportion of finisher diet, 21 percent or more group was higher PSE incidence. The meat quality score for intra-muscle fat and inter-muscle fat of the carcasses were superior in 21 percent or more fed finisher diet groups, but elasticity score of carcass had not influenced by the proportion of finisher diet. 6. The type of growing-finishing building was affected the carcass grade and PSE incidence of the market pigs, carcass grade and PSE incidence were superior in enclosed mechanical ventilation building groups. The meat quality score for intra-muscle fat and inter-muscle fat of the carcasses were not significantly differences by the type of finishing building, but the score of subcutaneous fat and elasticity of carcass were superior in opened natural ventilation building groups. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that we have more precise on-farm management practice and the knowledge related to pre-slaughter handling skills to reduce the stress and improve the status of welfare of market pigs.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.125-129
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• 2015

This study was conducted to investigate the incidence of bone-fracture from pig carcass slaughtered in eight processing plants located in Daejeon and Chungnam area, Korea, during the year 2013 and 2014, and to evaluate the quality of semimembranous muscle from bone-fractured carcasses. Twenty semimembranous muscles were collected from bone-fractured carcasses and none bone-fractured (control) ones, respectively, after storage of pig carcass at $5^{\circ}C$ for 24 h. The pH, cooking loss, and color of semimembranous muscle were measured as quality parameters. In total 4,865,502 of pig carcasses, the occurrence of bone fracture was 0.328% (15,975 heads) and scored the highest defect (26.31%) in total abnormal carcasses. The pH and cooking loss of semimembranous muscle from bone-fractured carcasses were significantly lower than those of control (p<0.05). $L^*$ and $a^*$ values of semimembranous muscle were not significantly different between bone-fractured carcass and control whereas that of $b^*$ values was significantly higher in bone-fractured carcass than control (p<0.05). Eight out of twenty semimembranous muscle collected from bone-fractured carcasses were confirmed as PSE whereas only one in control. In conclusion, the incidence of bone-fracture pre- and during slaughter of pig may cause serious defects in final meat quality. Therefore, the proper handling and treatment should be implicated to avoid and/or decrease the incidence of bone-fracture of pigs.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.241-248
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• 2015

This study was aimed to investigate factors that affected the status of wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) for handling poultry carcasses with potential exposure to virulent avian infectious agents. A large outbreak of high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) occurred in South Korea in 2014. Many public officers participated for euthanizing and handling livestock carcass. However, several safety issues with using PPE were revealed. Therefore, a questionnaire survey was conducted for 340 people who participated euthanasia and carcass disposal in the place where HPAI mainly occurred in 2014. It was found that 31.8% of the respondents had ever taken off their protective equipment during operations because of its inconvenience. The most inconvenient PPE was goggles (54.6%), followed by mask (20.2%), latex gloves (11.6%), shoe covers (5.9%) and protective clothing (5.3%). The main complaints about this individual PPE was unclear sight, damp emitted toward eye, sweating, tearing easily and sweating, respectively. Considering such problems of PPE, new possible directions for improvement of gloves and goggles were suggested. With newly developed rubber coating fabric gloves and conventionally using latex and fabric gloves, H3N2 influenza virus transmission experiment was conducted. Rubber coating fabric gloves showed similar efficiency for blocking virus transmission with latex laboratory gloves and were not easily torn by sharp claws of chicken. In addition, air flow control safety eyewear was suggested to minimize moisture formation. The air flow control system efficiently suppressed moisture formation inside the goggles. Therefore our study will provide more specific directions about new PPE development for safety protection of actual wearers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.1656-1665
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• 2020

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects of stress during slaughter of beef cattle on physiological parameters, carcass, and meat quality at a Federal Inspection Type slaughterhouse located in the southeast of Mexico. Methods: A total of 448 carcasses of male Zebu×European steers with an average age of 36 months were included. Carcass assessment of presence of bruises and bruise characteristics was carried out on each half-carcass. Blood variable indicators of stress (packed cell volume, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, glucose, cortisol concentration) and meat quality parameters (pH, color, shear force, drip loss) were evaluated. Results: Of the 448 carcasses evaluated, 81% of the carcasses showed at least one bruise; one bruise was detected in 36.6% and two bruises in 27.0% of animals. Of the 775 bruises found, 69.2% of the bruises were grade 1 in region 3. Of the 448 carcasses studied, 69.6% showed hyperglycemia (6.91 mmol/L); 44.3% and 22.7% showed high (74.7 ng/mL) and extremely high (108.8 ng/mL) cortisol levels, respectively, indicative of inadequate handling of animals during preslaughter and slaughter. Of the carcasses evaluated, 90.4% had a pH ≥5.8 with an average of pH 6.3. In both pH groups, meat samples showed L^⋆ values >37.0 (81.6%) and a shear force >54.3 N; meat pH≥5.8 group showed a drip loss of 2.5%. These findings were indicative of dark, firm, and dry (DFD) meat. According to principal component analysis, grades 1 and 2 bruises in region 3 and grade 1 bruises in region 5 were highly associated with cortisol, drip loss, and color parameters b^⋆ and h^⋆ and were negatively associated with L^⋆, a^⋆, and C^⋆. Conclusion: The bruises probably caused by stress-inducing situations triggered DFD meat. Appropriate changes in handling routines in operating conditions should be made to minimize stress to animals during the slaughter process to improve animal welfare and meat quality.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.483-490
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• 2003

The incidence of PSE(Pale, Soft, Exudative) pork by slaughter weight and handling conditions at preslaughtering stage such as fattening period, transport and lairage time were compared. The incidence of PSE pork were 24.9% when pigs were fed under 180 days and 18.9% when pigs were fed over 180 days for fattening. In the transport time from farm to slaughter house, the incidence of PSE pork were 46.6% for shorter than 30min and 45.65% for 30 min${\sim}$60 min and 35.44% for longer than 60min. The incidence of PSE pork were 55.6% for pigs had no lairage before slaughter, 33.9% for pigs held in lairage overnight. Therefore, the incidence of PSE pork were decreased by 6% with the extension of the fattening period and 9% with the transport time of longer than 1hr and 22.1% with lairage treatment before slaughter. The incidence of PSE pork were different in different location of farms and there were no significantly different in live weight, carcass weight and carcass yield between groups of lairage treatment. In conclusion, handling condition at preslaughtering stage such as extension of fattening period and lairage time were important to control pork quality and lairage treatment was not decreased the carcass yield.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.34-44
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• 2021

Buffalo animals are slaughtered at their early age and carcasses are chilled rapidly which deteriorates its meat quality and decreases the consumer likeliness of buffalo meat. This study investigated the appropriate methods to prevent the quality deterioration of buffalo meat during chilling. Twenty four 18-mon-old buffalo bulls were slaughtered, electrically stimulated and suspended either by hip or achilles tendon. After 24 h postmortem, meat quality characteristics were recorded. Results showed that electrical stimulation (ES) led to rapid decline of carcass pH compared to non-ES method (p<0.05). Furthermore, electrically stimulated meat presented lower shear force accompanied with the higher CIE L⁎, a⁎, and b⁎ values (p<0.05). Suspension methods only affect the meat shear values and were lowered in hip suspended samples. It can be concluded that ES combined with hip suspension can be adopted to prevent the meat quality deterioration of young buffalo bulls during postmortem storage.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.424-432
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• 2004

The handling and transport of broiler birds from farm to the processing factory is known to cause injury and dead. The preslaughter period can be compromised through thermal stress, emotional stress, starvation, dehydration, metabolic exhaustion, trauma to the skin and bone fraction resulting in bruising and dead. This paper focuses on the control points of individual post Harvest stages by reference to recent literature. In catching, the injuries and deads are caused from fracture of bone, skin damage and hipbone dislocation. It can be improved by training the catchers. The primary factor of dead during transportation is from thermal stress. It is related to stocking density, type of crate and vehicle, ventilation and transportation time. Of the factors, the ventilation is very important. The holding place should be built with consideration of protection from the hostile external environment. There were not much progresses in this area, however, many researches are conducting to focus on animal welfare in European Union. Recently, it is rapidly changed in marketing custom from whole carcass to portion cut in Korea. This means the increase of economic loss due to the mishandling at post harvest. The systematic approach is demanded for this area.