4. Conclusion
This paper presents data on a model which shows that measuring
rectal temperature allows discovery of pigs that might develop a high
risk for PSE meat. Using this model the slaughterhouse studied can anticipate
to improve themeat quality of pork by decreasing the risk to develop
PSE meat: e.g. the staff of the slaughterhouse or the official
veterinarian can decide when pigs can be slaughtered to guarantee a
lower risk of developing PSE meat.When, for example, pigs have a normal
rectal temperature, but they are subjected to excessive stressors
during lairage, it is recommended to keep their lairage time short
since pH30LT will not improve, by keeping the pigs in lairage.When rectal
temperature of pigs is too high, the staff can decide to keep the pigs
in lairage, depending on environmental conditions in the lairage pen,
while the rectal temperature is monitored as a matter of verification.
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper that presents
measurements of rectal temperature in an observational study
with more than 500 pigs and correlates rectal temperature with the