Dehydration in lambs at the time of slaughter

Summary

The aim of this project was to determine if the addition of either salt or betaine to the diet of lambs will reduce the loss of water from muscle during a water deprivation period, prior to slaughter.

The outcomes were that access to water was the only treatment, of those tested, that influenced the hydration status of lambs at the time of slaughter. Feeding lambs either high levels of salt or betaine on farm prior to consignment was therefore unlikely to prevent dehydration in lambs at slaughter, when the lambs fail or are unable to drink water in lairage prior to slaughter. However further work was warranted to determine if the prior inclusion of salt or betaine in the diet will encourage sheep to drink whilst in lairage.