The Effect of long Distance Transportation Stress on Cattle: a Review

Abstract

The aim of this article is to review scholarly work carried out on the effect of long transportation stress. Stress due to long transportation of cattle can be measured by comparing baseline measurements when the animal is not subjected to a stress inducing factors, to those measured when an animal is experiencing a stressful event. Cattle transport produces physical, psychological, and climatic factors that affect animals with different intensities and duration. The most pervasive factors of long transportation of cattle include, pre-transport management, the attitudes of stakeholders and inappropriate driving skills, laws and codes of practice, methods used during handling, loading and unloading, the design of vehicle and equipment used for loading, and poor road conditions. Other important factors causing stress are insufficient ventilation, high stocking densities, mixing of unfamiliar groups and social regrouping, feed and water deprivation, noise, vibration, novelty, time of transit and length of the journey, genetic differences between breeds, and payment of persons working with animals, actual physical climatic condition and risk of disease transmission. The effect of stress during long transport is assessed using a range of behavioral, physiological and carcass quality measures. Stress may result in induced changes in the secretion of pituitary hormones, thus leading to altered metabolism, immune competence and behavior, as well as failures in reproduction. Thus, stressful conditions can reduce the fitness of an animal, which can be expressed through failure to achieve reproductive and production performance standards, or through morbidity and mortality. This review article argues that, to mitigate the negative effect of long transport stress on cattle physiology, remedial strategies such as administration of vitamins, vaccines, feeding high- energy diets, and electrolyte therapy should be considered.