relatively little effect on blood profile or meat quality for commercial transports less than
approximately 3 h journey time.(74) In contrast, a risk of increased skin damage due to
trampling and/or fighting was observed when more than 0.35 m2
/100 kg was given during
transport.
Differences between authors as to the appropriate limits of load density to guarantee
the animal welfare and consequent meat quality may reflect regional differences in
weather conditions, and the proportion of the local pig population with inherited stress
susceptibility. For example, the use of load densities of more than 0.40 m2
/100 kg is recommended
for the best meat quality indices, and when the area per 100 kg of pig during
transport was reduced to less than 0.40 m2
, a higher transport mortality (0.77%) is
observed.(75, 76) Other studies observed that all carcasses showed PSE-characteristics
when loading density was around 0.40–0.45 m2
/100 kg; whereas, when load density was
0.5 m2
/100 kg, only 31.2 (77) and 25% (78) of carcasses showed this reduction of meat
quality. In addition, the effect of stocking density on pre-slaughter mortality and ultimate
meat quality is greatly influenced by breed and ambient temperature.(23, 75)