Abstract
This study was carried out in order to determine the effect of eight-hour road transportation on the excitability scores of pigs administered ascorbic acid (AA) during the hot-dry season in Northern Nigeria. Thirteen experimental pigs were administered with AA orally at 100 mg/kg, while ten control pigs were given only distilled water orally. Excitability score of each pig was determined 30 min before and immediately after transportation by a single ‘blind’ observer during weighing. An excitability score of 4 indicated the highest excitability. Percent excitability of experimental and control pigs with each score was also determined. Post-transportation, an increase in the percentage of experimental pigs with excitability score of 4 was recorded (38.5 to 69.2%), while a decrease was obtained in the control pigs (40.0 to 10%). Road transportation decreased the excitability scores and percent excitability in control pigs with high scores. In conclusion, administration of AA increased the nervous excitability of pigs transported by road during the hot-dry season in northern Nigeria. Key words: Pigs, road transportation, stress, excitability scores, ascorbic acid, hot-dry season.
Highlights
It has been established that road transportation has adverse effects on health and productivity of pigs as a result of vibration (Perremans et al, 2001), regrouping of animals leading to fights (Wellock et al, 2003) and other harmful effects (Ishiwata et al, 2004)
This study was carried out in order to determine the effect of eight-hour road transportation on the excitability scores of pigs administered ascorbic acid (AA) during the hot-dry season in Northern Nigeria
The negative effects of road transportation on pigs are further aggravated by concomitant subjection to heat stress, occurring when animals are transported during periods of high ambient temperature (AT) and relative humidity (RH) (Ayo et al, 1998; Renaudeau et al, 2007), characteristic of the hot-dry season
Summary
It has been established that road transportation has adverse effects on health and productivity of pigs as a result of vibration (Perremans et al, 2001), regrouping of animals leading to fights (Wellock et al, 2003) and other harmful effects (Ishiwata et al, 2004). The hot-dry season, characterized by long duration of sunshine, has been shown to be thermally stressful to animals (Ayo et al, 1998; Sinkalu et al, 2008). The welfare of these animals can be Livestock experience a variety of stressors provoked by abrupt social, nutritional and environmental changes, which induce homeostatic responses, modify behaviour and growth and leads to loss of performance (Niekamp et al, 2007; Obernier and Baldwin, 2006; Pineiro et al, 2007). Stress has been demonstrated to induce generation of free radicals in large quantities in the body such that the body’s antioxidant defence mechanisms are overwhelmed or exhausted (Iwolakun et al, 2004; Meerson, 1986; Tauler et al, 2003)
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