Engenharia Agrícola (Dec 2016)

EFFECT OF TRANSPORTATION DISTANCE ON WEIGHT LOSSES IN PIGS FROM DEHYDRATION

  • Sivanilza T. Machado,
  • Irenilza De A. Nääs,
  • Mario Mollo Neto,
  • Oduvaldo Vendrametto,
  • João G. M. Dos Reis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4430-eng.agric.v36n6p1229-1238/2016
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 36, no. 6
pp. 1229 – 1238

Abstract

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ABSTRACT: The increasing of global demand for food has required more efficiency in the production process. Transportation represents a source of body dehydration for pigs transported from farm to slaughterhouses. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the distances on the body dehydration of pigs transported to slaughter in tropical conditions. We analyzed 350 pigs shipments with a total of 68,588 heads using statistical software SAS by anova, means and corr procedures. The results showed a liveweight loss estimated at 12% which was increased gradually as the distance increased as pigs were deprived of water for a long time. The most cost-effective distance for the pigs' transportation under tropical condition is within the range below 100 km, where there were not detected weight losses (p< 0.05).

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