Many small slaughter facilities use head-only electrical stunning to render swine unconscious and insensible to pain before slaughter. Head-only electrical stunning is a reversible procedure that is optimally effective for approximately 15 s after stun completion. In many small North American slaughter plants, the authors have observed hoist speeds that are too slow to achieve a short enough stun-to-bleed interval to maintain insensibility through exsanguination. Unlike many European plants, there is no separate high-speed hoist for pigs and exsanguination on the floor is not condoned. As a result, a 2-stage stunning method was proposed where head-only stunning for 3 s was immediately followed by application of the same stunning wand to the cardiac region of the animal for 3 s while lying in lateral recumbancy. A paired-comparison study was conducted on 89 pigs in a small slaughter facility to compare the head-only method applied for 6 s with the head/heart method. The objective was to evaluate signs of return to sensibility, stun-to-bleed time, blood lactate concentration, muscle pH, drip loss, and fresh meat color to validate the head/heart electrical stunning method for small slaughter plants. Incidence of corneal reflex was not different (P > 0.05) between head/heart (93.8%) and head only (85%) stunning. Nose twitching was more common (P < 0.05) in head only (26.5%) than head/heart (5%) stunning. Head/heart stunning eliminated rhythmic breathing, natural blinking, eye tracking to moving objects, and righting reflex, which were all observed in head-only stunned pigs. Eye tracking to moving objects was observed in 40.8% of head-only stunned pigs. Blood lactate was not different (P > 0.05) between stunning methods (head only: 8.8 ± 0.7 mmol/L, head/heart: 7.8 ± 0.7 mmol/L). Stun-to-bleed time did not differ (P > 0.05; head only: 32 ± 1 s, head/heart: 33 ± 1 s). Mean time to loss of heartbeat with the head-only method was 121 ± 5 s. No heartbeat was observed with the head/heart method. Longissimus thoracis pH, color, and drip loss were not different (P > 0.05) between stunning methods. This study determined that the head/heart electrical stunning method reduces the incidence of signs of return to sensibility without significant effects on meat quality, plant operation speed, or blood lactate concentration. In addition, the head/heart method requires no capital investment for plants that are currently using the head-only method. Copyright © 2011. American Society of Animal Science .

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of perioperative administration of oral meloxicam prior to and following the application of caustic paste to disbud neonatal dairy calves. Sixty-one 3–4-d-old Holstein heifer calves were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups of 15–16 calves. The treatment groups were: 1) M1, caustic paste disbudding and oral meloxicam (45 mg) with a placebo 24 h later; 2) M2, treatment M1 followed by a second 45-mg dose of meloxicam 24 h later instead of placebo; 3) CONTROL, treatment M1 with placebo in place of meloxicam; and 4) SHAM, sham disbudding with placebo in place of meloxicam. Infrared thermography was used to quantify eye and horn bud temperatures. Pressure algometry was used to measure Mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT) surrounding the horn bud. Average daily gain and body weight (BW) were obtained by weighing each animal throughout the study and calculating the changes over time. Plasma was collected and analyzed for cortisol and substance P concentrations. Substance P and cortisol decreased in all animals over time, regardless of treatment. Mean plasma substance P concentration across all time points was greater (P < 0.05) in the SHAM group than M1 or M2 but not different (P > 0.05) than the CONTROL group. The MNT and ocular temperatures decreased over time across all treatments (P < 0.05). Mean BW increased over time across all treatments (P < 0.05). A significant interaction (P < 0.05) between treatment and sampling time was observed at 12 h following treatment application for both mean horn bud temperature and the ratio between horn bud and ocular temperature. Overall, the results of this study suggest that meloxicam administration at a dose of 45 mg per animal may have limited influence as the primary modulator of pain and inflammatory response in calves that have been disbudded with caustic paste at 3 d of age.

The objective of this study was to contrast the soft tissue thickness, cranial thickness, total tissue thickness, cross-sectional brain area, and bolt–brain contact from the common frontal application of captive bolt euthanasia with the alternative location behind the ear in cadaver swine heads. Twenty-three cadaver heads from pigs that were approximately 136 kg and 6 mo of age were collected from a regional slaughter establishment following CO₂ stunning and assigned to either the FRONTAL (n = 11) or the CAUDAL TO PINNA (n = 12) application of the captive bolt. The soft tissue thickness was different (P < 0.0001) between the 2 applications (FRONTAL: 8.3 ± 3.4 mm; CAUDAL TO PINNA: 56.5 ± 3.4 mm). The cranial thickness was different (P < 0.0001) between the applications (FRONTAL: 23.4 ± 2.9 mm; CAUDAL TO PINNA: 26.5 ± 2.9 mm). There was also a difference (P < 0.0001) in the total tissue thickness between the 2 applications (FRONTAL: 31.7 ± 3.8 mm; CAUDAL TO PINNA: 73.4 ± 3.8 mm). Cross-sectional area was calculated from images collected immediately after the heads were cut along the plane of bolt travel by bandsaw and was different (P = 0.0028) between the 2 applications (FRONTAL: 25.2 ± 1.3 cm²; CAUDAL TO PINNA: 18.9 ± 1.3 cm²). Bolt–brain contact was also assessed from the images, and a difference (P = 0.0360) between the 2 applications (FRONTAL: 100 ± 10.5%; CAUDAL TO PINNA: 66.7 ± 10.5%) was identified. The results of this study suggest that the FRONTAL application may provide a bolt path with less tissue to travel through when compared with the CAUDAL TO PINNA application for pigs of the approximate age and weight of those in this study. Ultimately, the FRONTAL location may present less risk for the captive bolt euthanasia of swine at market weight at this time. Additional refinement of the CAUDAL TO PINNA procedure and modification to the captive bolt device to penetrate to a suitable depth to ensure brain damage is recommended.

Summary: Dairy cattle are handled frequently, and broken tails can result from improper handling. The aim of this crosssectional study was to determine cow-level factors that may be associated with the occurrence of broken tails in dairy cattle. Multiparous cows had a greater prevalence of broken tails than primiparous cows. Cows who were treated for mastitis twice or more had a greater prevalence of broken tails than cows treated once or never. These findings suggest that the longer a cow was present on the farm and the more times a cow was treated for an intramammary infection, the more likely she was to experience a broken tail.

A survey was conducted to describe the distribution of 10 advanced health and welfare conditions in cows destined for slaughter within a large, multinational beef supply chain. The survey included 4,211 groups of cows (N = 76,886) from 13 countries in 3 areas of the world [Europe, Brazil, and the United States). Thirty-four commercial abattoirs participated in Europe, 9 in the United States, and 7 in Brazil. The survey was conducted in July, August, and September 2014. The conditions were non-ambulatory (NA), severe lameness [SL), ocular neoplasia (ON), wounds (W), malaise (M), nervous system disorders (NSD), poor udder condition (PUC), active parturition (AP), uterine prolapse (UP), and low body condition score (LBCS). Of all animals evaluated, 2.98% displayed at least 1 condition. The 3 most common conditions were LBCS (45.6% of conditions observed), PUC (20.3% of conditions observed), and SL (16.3% of conditions observed). The combination of "Dairy" and "Mixed Beef and Dairy" groups of cows accounted for 69.6% of the total population, and 82.3% of all conditions observed. The most common conditions observed in Europe and the United States were LBCS, PUC, and SL, while LBCS, NA, and AP were the 3 most common conditions in Brazil.

The objective of this project was to determine the impact of cooling on the soft tissue thickness, cranial thickness, and cross-sectional brain area of cadaver heads from market pigs. Documenting the effect of cooling on tissue dimensions of swine heads is valuable and important for future investigations of physical stunning and euthanasia methods that use cadaver heads. Scalded and dehaired cadaver heads with intact jowls were sourced from market pigs stunned with CO₂ gas. After transport to the data collection location, a penetrating captive bolt (PCB) shot (Jarvis Model PAS—Type P 0.25R Caliber Captive Bolt Pistol with Medium Rod Assembly and Blue Powder Cartridges) was applied in the frontal position. Following PCB application, each head (n = 36) underwent an UNCHILLED treatment followed by CHILLED treatment. The UNCHILLED treatment involved images collected immediately after splitting each head along the bolt path, and the CHILLED treatment involved images of the same heads after storage in a walk-in cooler for 24 h at 2 to 4°C. All measurements for each treatment were collected from images of the heads on the plane of the bolt path immediately prior to and immediately after the refrigeration treatment. Measurements were performed by two observers. Across all measurements, mean interobserver coefficient of variation was 11.3 ± 0.6%. The soft tissue caudal to the bolt path was different (P = 0.0120) between treatments (CHILLED: 6.4 ± 0.2 mm; UNCHILLED: 7.2 ± 0.2 mm). The soft tissue thickness rostral to the bolt path was different (P = 0.0378) between treatments (CHILLED: 5.5 ± 0.2 mm; UNCHILLED: 6.1 ± 0.2 mm). Cranial thickness caudal to the bolt path was not different (P = 0.8659; CHILLED: 18.1 ± 0.6 mm; UNCHILLED: 18.3 ± 0.6 mm), nor was there a significant difference (P = 0.2593) in cranial thickness rostral to the bolt path between treatments (CHILLED: 16.2 ± 0.6 mm; UNCHILLED: 15.2 ± 0.6 mm). Cross-sectional brain area did not differ (P = 0.0737; CHILLED: 3633.4 ± 44.1 mm; UNCHILLED: 3519.9 ± 44.1 mm). A correction factor of 1.12 was determined from this study for cases where estimation of UNCHILLED soft tissue thickness from CHILLED soft tissue thickness is necessary.