Effect of road transport for up to 24 hours followed by twenty-four hour recovery on live weight and physiological responses of bulls

Table 7 Treatment means (n = 12 animals per treatment) with SE¹ for white blood cell (WBC) number and the neutrophil:lymphocyte (N:L) ratio pre (-0.25 h) and post-transport (0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24 h).

Transport	-0.25 h pre	0 h post	1 h post	2 h post	4 h post	6 h post	8 h post	12 h post	24 h post	SE¹	Effect of time²
WBC (× 10³/μL)
J 0	9.2^a	9.1^ab	8.9^ab	9.8^ab	11.5^b	11.3^b	11.9^b	12.6^b	12.2^b	0.72	P = 0.0003
J 6	8.9^a	14.7^b	15.2^b	15.1^b	14.4^b	14.5^b	14.2^b	13.5^b	11.8^b	0.07	P = 0.001
J 9	9.7^a	15.3^b	15.7^b	15.5^b	15.2^b	15.1^b	15.1^b	13.8^b	11.7^ab	0.79	P = 0.0001
J 12	9.3^a	12.7^ab	13.2^b	13.3^b	13.2^b	13.3^b	13.7^b	12.5^b	11.6^b	0.76	P = 0.003
J 18	10.4^a	13.1^b	13.1^b	13.4^b	13.1^b	14.0^b	14.1^b	13.9^b	12.2^ab	0.65	P = 0.004
J 24	10.4^a	11.9^b	12.7 ^b	12.2^b	12.6^b	13.3^b	14.1^b	13.4^b	14.0^b	0.99	P = 0.20
N:L ratio
J 0	0.35^a	0.28^ab	0.32^ab	0.40^ab	0.51^ab	0.68^ab	0.77^ab	1.35^b	0.57^ab	0.09	P = 0.0001
J 6	0.62^a	1.30^b	1.27^b	1.33^b	1.37^b	1.20^ab	1.15^ab	0.78^ab	0.76^ab	0.05	P = 0.0001
J 9	0.44 ^a	1.65 ^b	1.63^b	1.53^b	1.13^b	1.09^b	1.12 ^b	0.97^ab	0.85^ab	0.10	P = 0.0001
J 12	0.31^a	1.15 ^b	1.17^b	1.12^b	0.72^ab	0.73^ab	0.99^b	0.93^b	0.58^ab	0.08	P = 0.0001
J 18	0.44^a	0.95^ab	1.07^b	1.06^b	1.01^b	0.92^ab	1.36^b	1.05^b	0.68^ab	0.11	P = 0.0001
J 24	0.43^a	0.99^b	0.81^ab	1.08^b	1.10^b	0.77^ab	0.83^ab	0.92^b	0.84^ab	0.14	P = 0.0001

Control = J 0 not transported; animals transported for journey (J) durations of 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 hours (h) by road at a stocking density of 1.02 m² per animal. ^a,b,within a row, means differ from pre-transport baseline (-0.25 h pre-transport) at P < 0.05. ¹Standard error (SE). ²Effect of time (exact P value).

ISSN: 1746-6148