Department of Animal and Agriculture, Hartpury University and Hartpury College, Gloucester, UK.
Instituto de Ciencias Agroalimentarias, Animales y Ambientales (ICA3), Universidad de O'Higgins, San Fernando, Chile.
Anim Sci J. 2023 Jan-Dec;94(1):e13798. doi: 10.1111/asj.13798.
The aim of this study was to investigate associations between ear, tail, and skin lesions, hernias, bursitis, and rectal prolapses at the abattoir and meat inspection outcomes in slaughter pigs, including carcass condemnations and trimmings, carcass weight, and carcass quality. This was an observational study whereby pigs were managed according to routine practices in a single abattoir. Data were collected from 1816 pigs. The relationship between animal-based welfare and post-mortem outcomes was analyzed using generalized mixed models (Proc Glimmix). Our findings showed that tail lesions were associated with entire carcass condemnations and trimmings (P < 0.001), a reduction in carcass weight (P < 0.05), and a potential to impair carcass quality by reducing muscle pH (P < 0.05), especially in carcasses from male pigs (P < 0.05). Additionally, hernias were associated with viscera condemnation (P < 0.05) and a reduction in carcass weight (P < 0.05). Therefore, our findings confirm that ante-mortem inspection could be useful to predict post-mortem outcomes in the same pigs, especially in cases of tail lesions and hernia, which might trigger attention of the veterinary inspector in charge of the post-mortem inspection.
本研究旨在调查屠宰场中猪耳部、尾部和皮肤损伤、疝气、滑囊炎和直肠脱垂与屠宰后结果（包括胴体废弃和修整、胴体重量和胴体质量）之间的关联。这是一项观察性研究，在单个屠宰场中按照常规做法对猪进行管理。从 1816 头猪中收集数据。使用广义混合模型（Proc Glimmix）分析基于动物福利的与死后结果之间的关系。我们的研究结果表明，尾部损伤与整个胴体废弃和修整（P<0.001）、胴体重量减少（P<0.05）以及通过降低肌肉 pH 值（P<0.05）潜在地损害胴体质量有关，尤其是在公猪的胴体中（P<0.05）。此外，疝气与内脏废弃（P<0.05）和胴体重量减少（P<0.05）有关。因此，我们的研究结果证实，宰前检查可能有助于预测同一头猪的宰后结果，特别是在尾部损伤和疝气的情况下，这可能会引起负责宰后检查的兽医检查员的注意。
