The Veterinary Record, Volume 136, Number 13, April 1, 1995, pages 319-323

Papers and Articles

Effects on cattle of transport by road for up to 15

hours
P. D. Warriss, S. N. Brown, T. G. Knowles, S. C. Kestin, J. E. Edwards, S. K. Dolan, A. J.
Phillips

Twenty-four castrated male cattle aged between 12 and 18 months were transported by road
for five, 10 or 15 hours, over distances of 286, 536 and 738 km. Half the animals were of
Hereford x Friesian breeding and half of 'continental' type. The animals transported for five
hours lost 4.6 per cent of their bodyweight, those transported for 10 hours lost 6.5 per cent
and those transported for 15 hours lost 7.0 per cent; recovery to pre-transport values took five
days. There was little evidence from changes in blood composition that a 15-hour journey was
more stressful than a 10-hour journey.

The cortisol concentrations were increased by the stresses of loading and the first part of the
journey but then recovered as the journey continued. Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) activities
increased progressively with the longer journeys and CPK, urea, albumin and osmolality
levels recovered more slowly after the longer journeys. Increases in free fatty acids, -
hydroxybutyrate and urea concentrations and the continued increase in urea levels after the
end of the journeys suggested that the animals' normal pattern of feeding was disrupted.
Increases in albumin, total plasma protein and osmolality indicated slight dehydration during
transit which was quickly rectified by access to water.

The two breed types responded similarly to transport, except that the increases in CPK were
greater in the continental breeds, possibly as a result of their greater muscularity or greater
sensitivity to stress. Based on the physiological measurements made and the subjective
observations of behaviour a 15-hour transport period under good conditions is not
unacceptable from the viewpoint of animal welfare.

MOST of our knowledge of the effects of transport on cattle has been reviewed recently
(Tarrant 1990, Warriss 1990). Detailed studies of the transport of cattle under European
conditions have considered journeys of up to one hour (Kermy and Tarrant 1987a, b) or four
hours (Tarrant and others l 988), and Kent and Ewbank (1983) studied six-month-old calves
transported for six hours.

Current United Kingdom legislation allows cattle to be transported for up to 15 hours.

The responses of animals to longer Journeys, such as these, which may occur more
frequently with the impending decrease in the number of slaughter plants in the UK (Kempster
and Sloyan 1992) and the greater international trade between EU countries, are not known.
The work reported here examined the effects on steers of two contrasting breed types, of
being transported for five, 10 or 15 hours.

Materials and Methods

The experiment was carried out during May 1993. Twenty-four castrated male cattle (steers)
aged between 12 and 18 months (mean initial weight 341 kg) were purchased and kept for 14
days before the experiment. During this time they were maintained on hay ad libitum
 2

supplemented with 4 kg concentrate feed per animal per day. The concentrate (Intensive Beef
HE Nuts, W. M. F. Llanthony Mills) contained 16 per cent protein and 5-25 per cent oil.

Twelve of the steers were Hereford x Friesian crosses and the other 12 were of 'continental'
breeding (a mixture of Limousin and blonde d'Aquitaine crosses). Within the two breed types
the animals were allocated randomly to three groups, to be transported for five, 10 or l5 hours.
The eight animals in each group were held together in one pen and remained in this group,
unmixed with animals from the other groups, throughout the experiment.

The cattle were transported on the bottom deck of an articulated vehicle at a stocking density
of about 1 m2 per animal. The three pens at the back of the vehicle were used with the groups
allocated so that the front pen held animals transported for 15 hours, the middle pen those
transported for 10 hours and the last pen those transported for five hours, so that they could
easily be unloaded at the end of their journeys.

The journeys included a variety of road surfaces ranging from motorways and major trunk
roads to small country lanes. The cattle transported for five hours travelled 286 km, those
transported for 10 hours travelled 536 km and those transported for 15 hours travelled 738
km.

Before and after the journeys the physiological state of the cattle was monitored by making
measurements of liveweight, food and water intake, behaviour and various blood components.
Liveweight was recorded and blood samples were taken on seven occasions; two were taken
before the journey to give control values, one was taken immediately after the journey and the
others were taken at one, two, five and eight days after the journey began.

The first control sample (sample 1) was taken at 09.00 and the second (sample 2) was taken
six days later, on the day before the journey at 07.00. The samples taken between one and
eight days after the journey (sample 4 to 7) were also taken at 07.00. The sample taken
immediately after the journey (sample 3), was taken at 12.00, 17.00 and 22.00, respectively,
from the groups transported for five, 10 and 15 hours. The journey began at 07.00.

Blood samples (20 ml) were taken by jugular venepuncture placed into heparinised tubes and
kept on ice until processed Packed cell volume (PCV) was measured by a microhaematocrit
method. The samples were centrifuged and the plasma frozen in liquid nitrogen for the
subsequent analysis of cortisol, glucose, lactate, free fatty acids, -hydroxybutyrate, urea,
total protein albumin, osmolality and creatine phosphokinase (CPK) using the methods
described by Knowles and others (1993).

The daily consumption of hay and water by each pen of eight animals was monitored for six
days before the journey and seven days after it. The behaviour of the group transported for 15
hours was recorded continuously by means of video cameras during the journey and the
behaviour of the groups transported for five and 15 hours was recorded after the journey.

The temperature of the air above the animals' heads in each pen, and outside the vehicle,
was monitored at five-minute intervals with thermistor temperature probes and recorded on a
Squirrel data recorder (Grant Instruments). The results were scrutinised by analysis of
variance, using repeated measures analyses where appropriate.

Results
 3

Temperature during transport

The temperature increased steadily from about 7°C at the start of the journey at 07.00,
stabilised at about 17°C between five and 10 hours after the start and then fell with the onset
of evening to approximately 10°C (Fig 1). There were no differences in temperature between
the pens, or between the internal and external air temperatures.

Liveweight and blood measurements

The changes in liveweight and in the levels of the various blood components are illustrated in
Figs 2 and 3. There were no material differences between the treatment groups before the
journey. The only statistically significant difference (P<0.05) between the groups was for CPK
activity which was slightly higher for the group transported for 10 hours (76.4 u/litre) than for
the groups transported for five hours (61.4 u/litre) or 15 hours (57.8 u/litre). This difference
was very small in comparison with the potential increases in CPK activity and may have been
caused by the slightly greater stress associated with the weighing and bleeding of the
increases in CPK activity and may have been caused by the slightly greater stress associated
with the weighing and bleeding of the cattle in this group.

The values for the second control samples were strictly comparable with those from later
'recovery' samples all being derived from samples taken at 07.00; the first control sample was
taken slightly later at 09.00. The significance of the differences for each blood component
between the samples taken at the different times from the cattle in each of the groups
transported for different times is given in Table 1. The variance ratios are derived from a
repeated analysis of variance.

Table 2 gives the mean values of all the measurements made immediately after the journey
(sample 3) and Table 3 shows the percentage change from the value of the pre-transport
sample (sample 2). Together these highlight the differences in the effects of the three
transport times.

Liveweight. All the groups increased in weight (by approximately 2 per cent) during the six
days between the first and second control weighing, showing that the animals had become
adapted to the holding conditions. Between the second control weighing, on the day before
the journey, and the end of the journey all the groups lost weight. The loss was greater after
the longer journeys (Table 3) but the weights of the groups after the journeys were not
significantly different (Table 2).

The cattle transported for five hours lost 4.6 per cent, those transported for 10 hours lost 6.5
per cent and those transported for 15 hours lost 7.0 per cent of their initial weights. It required
about five days after the journey for the liveweight to recover, and there was evidence that the
recovery took slightly longer for the groups transported further. Thus the mean liveweight of
the group transported for five hours after five days recovery was 0.6 per cent higher than
immediately before the journey, that of the group transported for 10 hours was 0.3 per cent
less and that of the group transported for 15 hours was 0.8 per cent less. The changes in
liveweight were significant (P<0.001) for all three journey lengths (Table 1).

Packed cell volume. The PCV decreased in all the groups during the journey, but there was no
evidence of any relationship with journey time (Table 3). The average decrease was 4.8 per
cent of the initial values. During the recovery period the PCV values initially continued to
decrease in the group transported for 10 hours and remained low in the other two groups, and
 4

the values did not return to the control levels even after eight days. There was, however,
considerable variation between the animals and the changes in the group transported for 15
hours were not significant, whereas those in the other two groups were significant (Table 1).

Cortisol. The concentrations of cortisol were low (mean 2.5 g/100 ml) in all the samples
except in those taken immediately after the journey, in which the concentration was
significantly (P<0.001) increased in all the groups (Table 1). The greatest increase (200 per
cent to 7.2 g/100 ml) occurred in the group transported for five hours (Table 3) followed by
the group transported for 10 hours (88 per cent to 4.5 g/100 ml) and the group transported
for 15 hours (42 per cent to 3.7 g/100 ml). The differences between the cortisol
concentrations of the three groups immediately after the journey (Table 2) were highly
significant (P<0.001), suggesting that the cortisol concentration increased in response to the
stresses associated with loading and the initial stages of transport but then recovered as the
journey proceeded.

Creatine phosphokinase. The activity of CPK in the plasma was increased by transport in
proportion to the length of the journey (Table 3) and there were significant differences
(P<0.05) in the activity in the sample taken immediately after the journey (Table 2). The five-
hour journey raised the level over three-fold, the 10-hour journey by nearly 10-fold and the 15-
hour journey raised it by nearly 18-fold. The activity of CPK remained high, particularly in the
two groups making the longer journeys, for two days, but had returned to the control levels
after five days.

Glucose. There were significant (P<0.001) effects of transport on glucose concentration,

which increased by about 41 per cent irrespective of the journey time (Table 3), so that there
was no difference between the mean concentrations in the three groups immediately after the
journey (Table 2). However, there was some evidence that the recovery was slower after the
longer journeys; thus, one day after the start of the journey the glucose concentrations were
4.9, 5.1 and 5.3 mmol/litre in the groups transported for five, 10 and 15 hours respectively.
However, these differences should be treated with caution, because the samples were taken
19 hours after the return of the group transported for five hours, but only nine hours after the
return of the group transported for 15 hours. By two days after the journey, the glucose
concentrations in all the groups had returned to the control levels.

Free fatty acids and -hydroxybutyrate. The concentration of free fatty acids was significantly
(P<0.001) affected only in the group transported for five hours, in which the mean
concentration had increased by 93 per cent after the journey (Table 3). Immediately after the
journey there were no significant differences between the concentrations of free fatty acids in
the three groups (Table 2), but recovery to the control values required five days.

The concentrations of -hydroxybutyrate also increased after the journey (Table 3), and to
similar levels (Table 2), although the increases above the control values tended to be greater
in the groups transported for 10 hours (39 per cent) and 15 hours (21 per cent) than in the
group transported for five hours (2 per cent). The overall effects were significant only in the
groups transported for five hours (P<0.05) and 10 hours (P<0.01). Recovery to control values
required between one and two days.

Lactate. Lactate concentrations were variable but there were significant treatment effects
(Table 1) in the groups transported for five and 10 hours (P<0.001). In the groups transported
for 10 and 15 hours there were increases in lactate concentrations after the journey (Table 3)
 5

although the levels were not significantly different between the groups (Table 2). During the
recovery period the lactate concentrations fell below the control levels.

Urea. The journey had significant effects on the concentration of urea in all the groups (Table
1). The concentration of urea had increased in all the groups immediately after transport
(Table 3) but the maximum concentrations occurred in the samples collected the day after the
journey (sample 4). The levels increased by an average of 12 per cent during the journey
(sample 3) to levels which were not significantly different between the groups (Table 2), but
they had increased by an average of 43 per cent on the following day. At this time, the
concentration of urea in the group transported for 15 (5.4 mmol/litre) was higher (P<0.05) than
that in either of the other groups (4.3 mmol/litre). Recovery took between two and five days.

Albumin, total plasma protein and osmolality. There were significant overall effects on albumin
concentration and osmolality in all the groups (P<0.001) and on total plasma protein in the
group transported for 10 hours (P<0.001). Transport increased the albumin and total plasma
protein concentrations, and the osmolality. The albumin concentrations increased as the
journey proceeded, by 12 per cent after five hours, by 10.6 per cent after 10 hours and by
12.5 per cent after 15 hours. There were significant (P<0.01) differences between the albumin
concentrations in the animals in the three groups immediately after the journeys (Table 2).

The total plasma protein concentration increased by 9.2 per cent after 10 hours (P<0.001)
and by 6.2 per cent after 15 hours; the concentration in the group transported for five hours
decreased by 1.5 per cent. The plasma osmolality increased by 1.4 per cent in the group
transported for five hours, by 2.51 per cent in the group transported for 10 hours and by 21
per cent in the group transported for 15 hours (Table 3), but the differences in osmolality
between the groups were not significant immediately after the journey (Table 2). Total plasma
protein concentrations and osmolality took one to two days after the journey to recover to the
control values. Albumin concentrations had decreased to near the control values by two days
after the journey but tended to increase slightly subsequently.

Differences between the rates of recovery in the three groups for selected variables. The
differences between the rates of recovery to control levels of CPK, urea, albumin and
osmolality are illustrated in Table 4, which gives the values for the samples collected one day
after the journey (sample 4) for the variables in which there were significant differences
between the groups. The progressive increases in the levels with the longer journeys imply a
correspondingly greater response by the animals to being transported. A similar, but non-
significant effect also occurred in the glucose concentrations. However, some of the
differences may have been due in part to the variation from nine to l9 hours in the interval
between the end of the journey and sampling for the three groups.

Consumption of hay and water. In the six days before the journey the cattle consumed on
average 5.24 kg of hay and 22.7 litres of water each per day. In the seven days after the
journey the corresponding averages were 5.55 kg of hay and 21.8 litres of water, and the
consumption of water did not differ between the three groups (Table 5). Hay consumption was
similar in the three groups during the last three days of the recovery period but appeared to
be lower in the group transported for 15 hours during the first four days of recovery,
particularly at first.

Some of this reduction was probably due to the fact that the cattle transported for 15 hours
arrived during the hours of darkness, at 22.00, when their intake of feed would normally have
been very low. The observed behaviour of the animals concurred with the amounts of water
 6

and hay they consumed. There was no difference between the number of animals observed
drinking during the first 20 hours after the journey, between the groups transported for five
hours and 15 hours; in the group transported for five hours 2.0 animals per hour were
observed to drink and in the group transported for 15 hours 2.3 animals per hour were
observed to drink.

In contrast the number of animals eating over the same time period was reduced in the group
transported for 15 hours compared with the group transported for five hours. The average
number of animals observed eating over the first ten hours was 14 per hour in the 5-hour
group and 21 per hour in the 15-hour group, but the corresponding figures for animals eating
over the second ten hours were 21 and 10 respectively.

Differences between breeds. The differences between the weights and blood compositions of
the two breed types are given in Table 6. The Hereford x Friesians were heavier (P<0.05), had
higher PCVS (P<0.05) and urea (P<0.001 ) and total plasma protein (P<0.05) concentrations
and lower CPK (P<0.001) and glucose (P<0.01) concentrations. The only significant
interaction between the effects of breed and transport was on plasma CPK activity (P<0.05).
In the Hereford x Friesians the CPK activity did not increase significantly after 10 hours of
transport, but in the continental-type animals it continued to increase. Thus, after 10 hours the
CPK activities of the continental cattle were more than twice the activities after five hours, and
they had increased to more than 3.5 times the five-hour level after 15 hours.

Discussion

The animals were inspected by a veterinary surgeon at intervals during the journey and all of
them were considered to be in good clinical condition at the end. It was noticeable however
that after 15 hours travelling the cattle appeared to be fatigued, as indicated by their relative
'docility' during the weighing and blood sampling after the journey. The interpretation of the
food and water consumption data is complicated by the differences between the times at
which the three groups returned, but there was some evidence that food consumption by the
group transported for 15 hours was initially depressed.

The increases in blood cortisol levels indicated that the transport was stressful to the cattle, at
least during the loading and initial stages of the journey. However, it is not clear whether the
animals subsequently adapted to being transported. This is one possible interpretation of the
decrease in cortisol levels which occurred during the longer journeys, which suggested that
the cattle were recovering. The increases in CPK activities indicated that transport was
physically stressful.

CPK is released from the skeletal muscles in response to changes in the permeability of cell
membranes, and very high activities have been recorded in the blood of young bulls which-
were mixed with unfamiliar animals and engaged in long-term agonistic interactions such as
butting and mounting (Warriss 1984). The increases in CPK therefore suggest that the
maintenance of posture in the moving vehicle was physically demanding, because longer
journeys were associated with progressively higher CPK activities, implying increasing
fatigue. It is unfortunate that it was not possible to monitor muscle glycogen concentrations
which might have corroborated this supposition.

Fatigue might also have accounted for the increase in lactate levels in the groups transported
for five and 10 hours. The group transported for 15 hours was videoed continuously during the
journey; they remained standing throughout the journey but often changed their position with
 7

respect to other animals in the pen and to the direction of travel of the vehicle. They often had
difficulty in maintaining their position when the vehicle cornered or braked but on only two
occasions did individuals lose their footing and fall, regaining their feet almost immediately.

The increases in glucose concentrations after the journeys could have been due to
catecholamine-stimulated glycogenolysis, and the influence of catecholamines could also
explain some of the increase in free fatty acid concentrations. However, these changes,
together with the increases in -hydroxybutyrate levels, might also have been a response to
the lack of food during the journey. The high urea concentrations after transport, particularly
the continuing increase after the return, are, similarly, likely to have been due to the disruption
to the animals' normal pattern of feeding caused by the associated stress. This is borne out by
the greater increase in urea observed in the cattle transported furthest, whose intake of hay
was also apparently reduced during the first few days of the recovery period.

The increases in albumin, total plasma protein and osmolality suggest a progressive degree
of dehydration during the journeys. However, the animals' water consumption after the journey
did not appear to be greater than before it, or to vary between the cattle transported different
distances. The blood values had returned to the control levels by the second day after the
return, suggesting that the dehydration was not severe or distressing to the animals and was
quickly reversed by access to water. The dehydration was not severe enough to increase the
PCV, and PCV values decreased during the journeys and continued to do so during the
recovery period. The PCV can be increased by the contraction of the spleen, which releases
erythrocytes into the circulation, under the influence of sympatho-adrenal stimulation. The
gradual decrease in PCV could therefore indicate a progressive habituation of the cattle to
being handled.

The changes in most of the blood constituents were in agreement with previously published
studies in cattle, as reviewed by Leach (1981), and were very similar to those recorded in
sheep transported for up to 14 hours (Knowles and others 1993). There were no important
differences between the way in which the cattle of the two breed types responded to being
transported, except in the response of plasma CPK activities.

The higher CPK activities observed in the plasma of the continental breed type may be
related to their greater muscularity, and the continuing increase during the longer journeys
may indicate their possibly greater sensitivity to stress. Although the present work was carried
out on steers, it is likely that the results would also be applicable to bulls and heifers because
previous studies have shown no material differences in the way the sexes respond to being
transported (Tennessen and others 1984, Kenny and Tarrant 1987a, b).

The cattle in this experiment were apparently stressed by being transported and showed
evidence of slight dehydration. Some measurements showed progressive changes during the
longer journeys, but many indicated that a journey lasting 15 hours was little, if at all, more
stressful to the animals than one lasting 10 hours. The implication is that the initial loading
and start of the journey was most stressful to the animals and that its prolongation after 10
hours was not particularly distressing. This finding may be evidence of the general resilience
of well-fed cattle in which the rumen acts as a reservoir of nutrients and water.

However, in animals suffering from previous poor nutrition or other marketing stresses this
may not apply, and caution should therefore be exercised in extending these findings to all
cattle transported commercially. Nevertheless, on the basis of the physiological
measurements and the subjective observations by the authors and the veterinary surgeon, a
 8

journey of 15 hours under good conditions appears to be acceptable from the viewpoint of the
animals' welfare.

Unlike sheep (Knowles and others 1994), the cattle were not observed to lie down during the
journeys and may therefore suffer more from fatigue; it may therefore be undesirable to
extend the permitted transport time much beyond the current limit of 15 hours.