Abstract
Experiments were carried out with the aim of investigating the modulatory role of ascorbic acid (AA) on responses to 8h road transportation, covering a distance of 260 km at a speed of 40 - 50 km/h, during the harmattan season. Twentynine adult local pigs aged 9 - 12 months served as subjects. Seventeen pigs administered with AA, prior to the transportation, at the dose of 250 mg/kg orally and individually served as experimental animals, and 12 others administered orally with sterile water were used as control animals. The behavioural activities of pigs which included resting (that is, either lying down or standing idle), defaecating, urinating, sniffing, threats of attack (fight), attempts to escape, mounting on one another, hurdling together and routing the floor were monitored with the aid of a video camera without the pigs knowing that they were being observed. Recordings were done based on the number of pigs found performing each activity within 30 min of direct observation, alternated by 30 min of rest and this continued for a period of 4 h. The tape was later watched, analysed and the number of pigs exhibiting each behavioural activity was recorded. Post-transportation, the behavioural activities of standing (94.1 ± 5.8 %), aggressiveness indicated by the percentage of pigs involved in fighting (23.5 ± 6.00 %) and attempts to escape (66.67 ± 14.21 %) were higher in experimental pigs (P < 0.05) post-transportation than control pigs with the corresponding values of 25.00 ± 3.00 %; 0.00 % and 35.29 ± 11.95 %, respectively. The results showed that road transportation induced considerable behavioural stress resulting in depression of the central nervous system. AA administration pre-transportation reduced the manifestation of stressful behavioural activities in experimental pigs following road transportation. In conclusion, long-term road transportation of pigs during the harmattan season induces behavioural stress, alleviated by AA administration.
Highlights
Road transportation is a critical phase in animal production and utilization
The results obtained in the present study showed that the pigs were subjected to a cold and dust-laden wind with high AT, characteristics of harmattan season in the Northern Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria
Meteorological results obtained during the present study agreed with the previous findings that the harmattan season is thermally stressful to pigs (Adenkola et al, 2009)
Summary
The current UK legislation [Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order, 1997] states that pigs can be transported for a maximum of eight hours after which they must be unloaded, fed, watered and rested for 24 hours before any further journey (Brown et al, 1999). This standard is currently undergoing a review for improved welfare order (Gavinelli and Simonrin, 2003). Free radicals causing oxidative stress in the brain have been shown to be involved in stress-induced neurobehavioural changes (Pal et al, 2006), excitotoxicity (Ray et al, 2007) and AA has been shown to have neuroprotective abilities (Santiago-Mejia, 2004)
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