Goldhawk C, Crowe T, González L A, Janzen E, Kastelic J, Pajor E, Schwartzkopf-Genswein K
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Centre, Lethbridge, AB University of Calgary, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Calgary, AB.
Dep. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, SK.
J Anim Sci. 2014 Sep;92(9):4161-71. doi: 10.2527/jas.2013-7432. Epub 2014 Jul 8.
Measuring animal-level conditions during transit provides information regarding the true risk of environmental challenges to cattle welfare during transportation. However, due to constraints on placing loggers at the animal level, there is a need to identify appropriate proxy locations. The objective was to evaluate 8 distributions of ceiling-level loggers in the deck and belly compartments of pot-belly trailers for assessing animal-level temperature and humidity during 5 to 18 h commercial transportation of feeder cattle. Ambient conditions during transportation ranged from 3.6 to 45.2°C (20.3 ± 7.61°C, mean ± SD). When considering the entire journey, average differences between ceiling and animal-level temperatures were similar among logger layouts (P > 0.05). The uncertainty in the difference in temperature and humidity between locations was high relative to the magnitude of the difference between animal- and ceiling-level conditions. Single-logger layouts required larger adjustments to predict animal-level conditions within either compartment, during either the entire journey or when the trailer was stationary (P < 0.05). Within certain logger layouts, there were small but significant differences in the ability of regression equations to predict animal-level conditions that were associated with cattle weight and available space relative to body size. Furthermore, evaluation of logger layouts based solely on the entire journey without consideration of stationary periods did not adequately capture variability in layout performance. In conclusion, to adequately monitor animal-level temperature and humidity, 10 loggers distributed throughout the compartment was recommended over single-logger layouts within both the deck and belly compartments of pot-belly trailers transporting feeder cattle in warm weather.
在运输过程中测量动物层面的状况，可提供有关运输期间牛福利面临的环境挑战真实风险的信息。然而，由于在动物层面放置记录仪存在限制，因此需要确定合适的替代位置。目的是评估在大肚拖车的甲板和腹部隔层中8种天花板层面记录仪的分布情况，以便在育肥牛5至18小时的商业运输过程中评估动物层面的温度和湿度。运输期间的环境条件范围为3.6至45.2°C（20.3±7.61°C，平均值±标准差）。在考虑整个行程时，记录仪布局之间天花板和动物层面温度的平均差异相似（P>0.05）。相对于动物和天花板层面条件之间的差异幅度，不同位置之间温度和湿度差异的不确定性较高。在整个行程或拖车静止时，单记录仪布局需要进行更大的调整，以预测任一隔层内的动物层面条件（P<0.05）。在某些记录仪布局中，回归方程预测与牛体重和相对于体型的可用空间相关的动物层面条件的能力存在微小但显著的差异。此外，仅基于整个行程而不考虑静止期对记录仪布局进行评估，无法充分捕捉布局性能的变异性。总之，为了充分监测动物层面的温度和湿度，在温暖天气运输育肥牛的大肚拖车的甲板和腹部隔层中，建议使用分布在整个隔层的10个记录仪，而不是单记录仪布局。
