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The behavioural responses of farmed red deer to other farmed species within a simulated abattoir environment.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2021

P.J. Goddard  and
S.M. Abeyesinghe
P.J. Goddard
Affiliation:
The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH
S.M. Abeyesinghe*
Affiliation:
The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH
*
1.Current address: Bio-Engineering Division, Silsoe Research Institute, Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedford, MK45 4HS
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Extract

The farming of red deer (Cervus elaphus) for venison is a small but established part of the UK livestock industry. While slaughtering of deer is undertaken in commercial abattoirs, as yet there are no specific regulations governing the welfare of deer at this time. The behavioural characteristics of deer lead to the supposition that inappropriate pre-slaughter handling may adversely affect their welfare. In particular, exposure to unfamiliar species, as could occur in a multi-species abattoir, may be an area of particular concern: placing groups of unfamiliar animals next to each other has been reported to cause stress in cattle (Duchesne & Perry, 1975). Results of an experiment which investigated the location, orientation and behaviour of deer when penned between pens of unfamiliar species (i.e. modified preference testing) are presented.

Type
Programme
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 1997 , 1997 , pp. 16
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1997

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References

Duchesne, H.E. & Perry, G.C. (1975) Management and behaviour factors affecting the incidence of dark cutting beef. Proc. B.S.A.P. Winter Meeting, Harrogate, 1–11.Google Scholar
Whittington, C.J. & Chamove, A.S. (1995) Effects of visual cover on farmed red deer behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 37 309–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar