The behavioural and physiological reactions of farmed red deer to transport: effects of sex, group size, space allowance and vehicular motion

Abstract

Sixty yearling red deer (30 males, 30 females), comprising eight single-sex groups of either 5 or 10 animals, were loaded onto a livestock transporter for 3 h, during which they were either transported or remained stationary, at one of two space allowances (males: 0.5 m 2 or 1 m 2/deer, females: 0.4 m 2 or 0.8 m 2/deer). One group was tested each day, and each group was subjected to each transport×space allowance combination. Compared with pretreatment values, deer spent more time standing in the transporter, with the greatest change occurring when group size was 10. Deer displayed more alert behaviour in the transporter ( P<0.001), and less time was spent ruminating ( P<0.001). During transportation, there tended to be more losses of balance at the higher space allowances. The preferred orientations inside the transporter were either parallel to or perpendicular to the direction of travel. Diagonal orientations were less common. Heart rates increased ( P<0.001) during initial stages in the transporter, but decreased during the course of treatment periods. Plasma creatine kinase activity was higher immediately after treatment periods than before ( P<0.001), indicating physical exertion or muscle damage. Compared with pretreatment values, plasma cortisol concentration increased more due to transportation than stationary confinement (30.04 vs. 8.53 nmol/l, P<0.01), suggesting vehicular motion may have been stressful. Overall, there were few differences between the various treatment combinations (group size, sex, space allowance, stationary/transport) in the behavioural and physiological responses of the deer, and it is concluded that the transport conditions used in this study had little detrimental effect on the welfare of deer.