Impact of Road Transport Practices on Physiological and Behavioural Responses in Cattle

Abstract

The movement of cattle by road transport in Australia is necessary and is common practice for many rural operations. Whilst acknowledging the importance of livestock transport by road, the impact that transport has on the animal's well-being is not well understood, particularly under Australian transport conditions. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the impact of two different loading practices combined with 6 h of road transport and secondly to examine the impact of transport duration on the physiological and behavioural responses in cattle. ... The results obtained from these studies address research that is pertinent to loading and long distance transport of cattle by road in Australia. Notably, this research gives a better understanding of the impact of livestock transport on cattle welfare. The two investigations of loading practices and transport duration show that loading and the initial stages of transport can be somewhat stressful, however as the journey progresses cattle habituate to the transport process, whether it be of short or long duration. Moreover, the results indicate that if the cattle to be transported are healthy, and have not been deprived of feed or water prior to commencement of transport a substantial recovery can be achieved within 3 days of ad libitum good quality feed and clean water. Most importantly these two studies have scientifically validated and more clearly defined how healthy cattle respond to different loading treatments and journey durations during both transit and recovery under Australian conditions.