Pre-slaughter stress mitigation in goats: Prospects and challenges.

Over the years, the handling of goats (loading, transport, unloading, time spent in lairage) prior to slaughter as well as the slaughter process (stunning, and bleeding) has largely applied to other livestock which impairs the wellbeing of goats as well as their products due to the difference in behavior among species. Numerous factors (feeding management, production systems, environmental conditions, and physiological status of the animals) predispose goats to pre-slaughter stress, resulting in increased stress responses during the transport, lairage, and slaughter process that influence the meat quality attributes. Goats are more susceptible to pre-slaughter stress relative to other ruminants. In this review, stress factors relating to goats, indicators as well as management, were elucidated which will assist producers in making informed decisions on minimizing goat stress for the betterment of the meat quality and goat industry as a whole.

Improving animal welfare status and meat quality through assessment of stress biomarkers: A critical review.

Stress induces various physiological and biochemical alterations in the animal body, which are used to assess the stress status of animals. Blood profiles, serum hormones, enzymes, and physiological conditions such as body temperature, heart, and breathing rate of animals are the most commonly used stress biomarkers in the livestock sector. Previous exposure, genetics, stress adaptation, intensity, duration, and rearing practices result in wide intra- and inter-animal variations in the expression of various stress biomarkers. The use of meat proteomics by adequately analyzing the expression of various muscle proteins such as heat shock proteins (HSPs), acute phase proteins (APPs), texture, and tenderness biomarkers help predict meat quality and stress in animals before slaughter. Thus, there is a need to identify non-invasive, rapid, and accurate stress biomarkers that can objectively assess stress in animals. The present manuscript critically reviews various aspects of stress biomarkers in animals and their application in mitigating preslaughter stress in meat production.

New insights in improving sustainability in meat production: opportunities and challenges.

Treating livestock as senseless production machines has led to rampant depletion of natural resources, enhanced greenhouse gas emissions, gross animal welfare violations, and other ethical issues. It has essentially instigated constant scrutiny of conventional meat production by various experts and scientists. Sustainably in the meat sector is a big challenge which requires a multifaced and holistic approach. Novel tools like digitalization of the farming system and livestock market, precision livestock farming, application of remote sensing and artificial intelligence to manage production and environmental impact/GHG emission, can help in attaining sustainability in this sector. Further, improving nutrient use efficiency and recycling in feed and animal production through integration with agroecology and industrial ecology, improving individual animal and herd health by ensuring proper biosecurity measures and selective breeding, and welfare by mitigating animal stress during production are also key elements in achieving sustainability in meat production. In addition, sustainability bears a direct relationship with various social dimensions of meat production efficiency such as non-market attributes, balance between demand and consumption, market and policy failures. The present review critically examines the various aspects that significantly impact the efficiency and sustainability of meat production.