Characterization of carcass bruises in cattle in Northern Portugal, a preliminary study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location of carcass bruises. (1) Lateral side of thehind leg, (2) abdominal wall, (3) thoracic wall, (4) front leg, (5) loin, (6) Tuber ischiadicum and its muscular insertions, (7) Tuber coxae and its muscular insertions.

Table 1. Characteristics of cattle under study.

Characteristics	n (%)
Sex
Female	337 (72.9)
Male	125 (27.1)
Pens (slaughter)
Mixed sex	148 (32.1)
Same sex	314 (67.9)
Body condition score
Normal	216 (46.8)
Thin	22 (4.8)
Normal	224 (48.4)
Time of transport
≤4 h.	300 (64.9)
>4 h ≤ 8 h.	139 (30.2)
>8 h.	23 (4.9)
Breeds
Non-autochthonous breeds^a
Crossbreed	118 (52.8)
Friesian	246 (47.2)
Autochthonous breeds^b
Alentejana	2 (0.4)
Arauoquesa	16 (3.5)
Barrosã	25 (5.4)
Cachena	20 (4.32)
Marinhoa	5 (1.1)
Maronesa	19 (4.1)
Minhota	8 (1.7)
Mirandesa	3 (0.65)
Age
≤1 year	98 (21.2)
>1 ≤ 5 years	180 (39.0)
>5 years	184 (39.8)
Production
Dairy	238 (51.5)
Beef	224 (48.5)
Rest in pens
≤4 h	154 (33.3)
>4 h ≤ 8 h	23 (5.0)
>8 h ≤ 12 h	0 (0.0)
>12 h ≤ 16h	67 (14.5)
>16 h ≤ 20 h	174 (37.7)
>20 h ≤ 24 h	26 (5.6)
>24 h	18 (3.9)
Post mortem decision
Approved	448 (96.7)
Condemned	14 (3.3)

^aNon-autochthonous breeds refer to non-Portuguese cattle breeds. ^bAutochthonous breeds refer to Portuguese cattle breeds.

Table 2. Number of cattle carcasses with at least one bruise.

Sex	Female	213	Male	23
Distribution of cattle by sex in pens	Same sex	191	Mix	45
Age	<1 year	17	1–5 years	91	>5 years	128
Breed	Autochthonous	27	Crossbreed	56	Friesian	153
Production	Beef	74	Dairy	162
Body condition score	Normal	140	Thin	20	Fat	76
Cleanliness	S0	63	S1	130	S2	43
Journey time	0–4 h	143	4–8 h	80	>8 h	13
Rest in pens	0–4 h	75	4–8 h	14	49	19
	16–20 h	85	20–24 h	2	>24 h	11

Table 3. Evaluation of carcass bruises by logistic regression.

Characteristics	p	Odds ratio	CI
Sex (female*/male)	<.001	839.77	149.31–6015.54
Sex in pens (same sex*/different sex)	<.001	37.84	11.86–133.98
Age (over 1 year*^a/ ≤1 year)	<.001	1003.75	137.42–10385.51
Breed (not autochthonous*/autochthonous)	<.001	23.13	6.21–100.12
Animal production (dairy*/meat)	<.001	27.93	10.58–78.33
Body condition score (thin*/normal^b)	<.001	53.40	19.15–159.86
Cleanliness (dirty*^c/clean)	<.001	58.49	19.64–189.49
Rest in pens (≤12 h*/ >12 h)	>.05

Ns: not significant; OR: odd ratio; CI: confidence interval 95%.

*Reference category, ^aover 1 year includes 1–5 years and >5 years categories; ^bincludes normal and fat categories; ^cincludes S1 and S2 categories. Clean refers S0 category.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (Juan García-Díez), upon reasonable request.