From farm to slaughter - Gracey's Meat Hygiene - page 112

of pounds annually and deserves immediate attention at
farm (mainly), transport and meat plant levels.

The starting point for the production of a national
guide should consider the hazards described within
the OIE guide to good farming practices for animal
production food safety: www.oie.int/eng/publicat/rt/2502/
review25-2BR/25-berlingueri823-836.pdf.

Causes of dirty livestock
Under typical weather conditions in the British Isles, the
production of clean cattle and sheep for slaughter is rela-
tively easy where animals are at grass during the warm
summer months. However, in wet winter weather, cattle
and sheep all too frequently arrive at the meat plant in a
very dirty condition. This is especially the case in those
countries in the more northerly latitudes where livestock
are housed during the winter months.
A survey carried out in Northern Ireland (Ingram,
1972) showed that the problem of dirty cattle was mainly
related to bedded houses with or without open yards.
The principal cause was found to be lack of bedding,
aggravated by high stocking densities, poor ventilation
causing condensation, poor drainage, inadequate floor
gradients and infrequent removal of slurry. In some
instances, deficiencies included incorrect cubicle size,
improperly positioned or overflowing water bowls or
troughs, blocked slats due to non-removal of slurry and
cattle lying outside the cubicle or bedded area. The prob-
lem appeared to be worse on farms where heavier cattle
were housed and fed silage. The growth of long hair
during the winter months contributed greatly to the
accumulation of muck on the cattle.
The following points should be given due attention by
farmers producing stock for slaughter:

Clean livestock (see Chapter 8)
Some idea of the level of contamination of cattle hides
with manure can be gained from the excellent surveys
carried out by the British Leather Centre in their Hide
Improvement Project. Their 1996 survey (Stosic, 1996),
which covered the whole of the British Isles, showed the
following main findings - Table 6.1 and Table 6.2.
There were significant variations between the different
regions of the British Isles due, at least in part, to weather
and husbandry systems. The worst month for the Irish and
Scottish hides was February, while the peak for England
and Wales was in April. It is significant that a wet climate,
grass-based diet and slatted floor housing of finishing cat-
tle are common features of livestock production systems in
the two regions with the most hide contamination.
The average weight (3.7 kg) of cattle hide faecal
contamination may be compared with that recorded
by the former author (JFG) in February 1965 of 4 kg, an
indication that there had not been much improvement
over a period of over 30 years.
In addition to conveying the various food-poisoning
pathogens ( E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella , Campylobacter ,
Yersinia , Giardia , Listeria , etc.), faecal contamination of
hides and fleeces is responsible for damage to hides and
eventually leather ('coarsened grain') by excoriating the
surface layers of the skin and exposing sensory nerve
endings, causing pain, thereby making this a serious
welfare problem. Hazards are also created for operatives
engaged in carcase dressing through knife slips. The
entire problem is costing the meat industry many millions

1 Housing structure and layout . Defects in design, lay-
out, cubicle size and design, drainage, water bowls,
slats, ventilation, etc. should be corrected. Regular
maintenance is essential.
2 Bedding . Adequate bedding is essential. It is best to
commence with a deep layer and subsequently to bed
with larger amounts at regular intervals. A concrete
area that is frequently scraped will serve to reduce
bedding requirements. Regular and frequent removal
of slurry is essential.
3 Housing density . Either over-crowding or understock-
ing of pens can lead to cattle becoming dirty. If there
are insufficient cattle in a slatted pen, the manure will
not get tramped through and will accumulate.
4 Clipping . It is good practice to clip the bellies, briskets
and flanks of cattle before housing to prevent the
accumulation of matted muck on the hair. The prac-
tice of clipping the backs of cattle cosmetically for sale
purposes is a waste of time and should be replaced by
brisket , belly and hip clipping for slaughter stock .
5 Management . A high level of stockmanship, especially
when animals are first housed, is essential. Individual
animals that do not settle in a particular system should

Table 6.1 Summary of main findings of Hide Improvement
Project

Total number of hides inspected 15 268

Average amount of dung per hide 3.7 kg

Percentage of hides affected 73%

Percentage of hides with over 4.5 kg dung 36%

Largest amount of dung/hide recorded 16 kg

Table 6.2 Hide contamination in different regions of Britain
and Ireland

Scotland 1.85 kg

England and Wales 2.42 kg

Northern Ireland 4.32 kg

Republic of Ireland 5.57 kg