A western Canadian study of the effect of winter transport conditions including acceleration on animal outcomes in cattle

Abstract

The intent of this study was to monitor the effect of Canadian winter commercial transport conditions on animal outcomes. A methodology was developed to measure acceleration on trailers transporting cull cows and a preliminary comparison of acceleration and carcass bruising revealed that further study of the relationship was warranted. The accelerometer methodology was used as one tool to examine factors influencing internal trailer microclimate and trailer acceleration on shrink, and severe bruising in finished cattle. This research has improved our understanding of Canadian winter transport conditions affecting finished cattle and demonstrated that there is a relationship between vertical rms of acceleration (P=0.0025), beta agonist use (P=0.0323), total wait time (P=0.0052) and the two way interaction of carcass position and yield score (P=0.0025) with cattle bruising. It also demonstrated that there is a relationship between journey duration (P<0.001), allometric coefficient (P<0.001), temperature humidity index (P<0.001) and prod use during loading (P=0.0012) with cattle shrink.