TITLE:
Practical handling skills during road transport of fattening pigs from farm to slaughterhouse: A brief review
AUTHORS:
Bert Driessen, Ester Peeters, Jos Van Thielen, Sanne Van Beirendonck
KEYWORDS:
Handling; Pigs; Transport; Slaughterhouse; Training
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.4 No.12,
December
25,
2013
ABSTRACT: The transport of fattening pigs is characterized by a strong human-animal interaction. Consequent handling is important because of animal welfare, meat quality and matching economic consequences. During road transport, human impact can be divided in different steps: 1) driving pigs from the pens via an alley to the trailer, 2) loading, 3) actual transport, 4) unloading to the lairage, and 5) the final phase driving pigs to the stunning. An inadequate design and a poor condition of the facilities will negatively affect the ease of handling pigs. Because of the consequences, acute stress during transport and slaughter should be minimized by acting on the education of people, on equipment and on preparation of animals for the journey. Education programs have to be repeated regularly so that knowledge can be refreshed.