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Simple Summary: Rabbit meat is consumed in both developing and developed countries. Intensive animal housing systems often subject animals to challenging environmental conditions, resulting in behavioral changes and the activation of stress responses at the neurological and hormonal levels, adversely affecting their health and productivity. Environmental enrichment strategies aim to mitigate these impacts by facilitating animals' adaptation to their farming environment, thereby reducing stress. This review comprehensively examines the efficacy of various environmental enrichments, whether implemented individually or in combination, in enhancing the welfare and performance of rabbits within intensive farming settings. Furthermore, this review discusses future developments and the integration of precision rabbit farming approaches aimed at further improving animal welfare. Rabbits are highly susceptible to environmental stress. Such stress, stemming from conventional housing conditions, can negatively impact well-being and productivity. Some of these negative consequences are increased susceptibility to diseases and infections and reduced growth rates and reproductive performance, as well as increased behavioral issues such as aggression. Environmental enrichment is the modification of the environment in which a domesticated animal lives in order to meet the species' behavioral needs. The objective of providing enrichment is to facilitate animals in expressing natural behaviors, thereby preventing behavioral frustration and negative affective states. Several inexpensive and safe materials can be used to enrich rabbit enclosures. This review emphasizes the significance of implementing diverse environmental enrichments to alleviate stress in rabbit farming. It summarizes their effects on animal performance and welfare while exploring potential future perspectives in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Despite its significance, the general public frequently misses out on scientific knowledge about the nutrition and health of dairy cows. Our study used Instagram, a well-known social media platform, to engage and inform a larger audience in order to solve this issue. Making dairy cow nutrition and welfare understandable and pertinent to common people was our aim. We created our Instagram account, where we posted a variety of content, including research insights and the firsthand accounts of our students' time spent working on our dairy farm. The outcomes were encouraging: we created a community that prioritizes the welfare of dairy cows, and our followers learned more about the relationship between cow health and the quality of dairy products. The paper presents an overview of the usage of Instagram as a social media platform for teaching and engagement in the field of dairy cow nutrition and management. Our Instagram content, which includes posts, stories, hashtags, reels, and live videos, aims to educate and engage our followers and covers a wide range of topics, including research updates, student activities, and information on dairy cow health and welfare. This approach to education allows us to reach a larger audience while also providing a forum for interaction and discussion on essential dairy cow nutrition concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Colic surgery, despite the improvements in recent years, is not without risks and still has a high risk of death compared with other procedures. Although about 90% of cases of colic in horses resolve spontaneously or with medical treatment, the remaining 10% can be fatal if not treated surgically. Furthermore, postoperative complications can have important welfare and economic consequences. Studies of predictive prognosis indices, incidence of postoperative complications, and survival rates in different geographical areas may not be comparable. Consequently, there is a need to perform a study that investigates the Italian population of animals subjected to colic surgery. A total of 451 horses were included. The short-term survival rate was 68.5% for all the horses that underwent colic surgery and 80% of the horses surviving anaesthesia. Several risk factors were evaluated and age, body condition score (BCS), packed cell volume (PCV) and total plasma protein (TPP) before and after surgery, amount of reflux, type of disease, type of lesion, duration of surgery and surgeon's experience, and amount of intra- and postoperative fluids administered affected the outcome. The multivariate analysis revealed that PCV at arrival, TPP after surgery, and BCS had the highest predictive power. This is the first multicentre study in Italy and the results of this study could help surgeons choose the best treatment and clearly communicate risks to referring veterinarians and owners. Further prospective studies should be conducted to confirm the effect of predictive indices considered in this study on short-term survival. The occurrence of colic could be influenced by the characteristics of a population, geographical area, and feeding management. The aim of this study was to report the short-term postoperative complications and survival rates and to identify factors that might affect the outcome of horses that underwent colic surgery in three Italian surgical referral centres. Data of horses subjected to colic surgery in three referral centres (2018–2021) were analysed. Comparisons of the outcomes were performed using a Mann–Whitney or a Chi square test. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used for parameters that were significant in the previous univariate analysis. The goodness-of-fit of the model was assessed using the Akike information criterion (AIC). Significance was defined as p < 0.05, and odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated as percentages. A total of 451 horses were included. The survival rate was 68.5% of all of the horses that underwent colic surgery and 80% of the horses surviving anaesthesia. Age, BCS, PCV and TPP before and after surgery, amount of reflux, type of disease, type of lesion, duration of surgery, surgeon's experience, and amount of intra- and postoperative fluids administered influenced the probability of short-term survival. The multivariate analysis revealed that PCV at arrival, TPP after surgery, and BCS had the highest predictive power. This is the first multicentre study in Italy. The results of this study may help surgeons to inform owners regarding the prognosis of colic surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Alternative feed additives could offer nutritional strategies that help to prevent metabolic disorders in ruminants by exerting beneficial effects on the animals' metabolic and immune statuses. In particular, organic acids (OA), such as citric acid and sorbic acid, and pure botanicals (PB), such as thymol and vanillin, have been widely used in the field of animal nutrition for their positive effects on production performances and known effects on metabolic and immune statuses. Since no information is available on goats, the goal of this study was to investigate the effects of OA/PB supplementation on the metabolic status and milk parameters of dairy goats. The results showed that the metabolic status of the treated goats was not negatively affected by the OA/PB supplementation. Moreover, OA/PB increased the milk fat content and the milk coagulation index, which are favorable effects in relation to the technological properties of milk. These findings encourage further studies on OA/PB supplementation in the dairy goat diet. The microencapsulated mixture of organic acids and pure botanicals (OA/PB) has never been evaluated in goats. The aim of this study was to extend the analysis to mid–late lactating dairy goats, evaluating the effects of OA/PB supplementation on the metabolic status, milk bacteriological and composition characteristics, and milk yield. Eighty mid–late lactating Saanen goats were randomly assigned to two groups: one group was fed the basal total balanced ration (TMR) (CRT; n = 40) and the other was fed a diet that was TMR supplemented with 10 g/head of OA/PB (TRT; n = 40) for 54 days during the summer period. The temperature–humidity index (THI) was recorded hourly. On days T0, T27, and T54, the milk yield was recorded, and blood and milk samples were collected during the morning milking. A linear mixed model was used, considering the fixed effects: diet, time, and their interaction. The THI data (mean ± SD: 73.5 ± 3.83) show that the goats did not endure heat stress. The blood parameters fell within the normal range, confirming that their metabolic status was not negatively influenced by OA/PB supplementation. OA/PB increased the milk fat content (p = 0.04) and milk coagulation index (p = 0.03), which are effects that are looked on as favorable by the dairy industry in relation to cheese production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Molasses is extensively used in ruminant nutrition. Different studies have evaluated their effects on VFA production, but no data are available on the potential changes in rumen microbiota. The aim of this study was to assess the way in which the use of molasses could have modified VFA production and the rumen microbial community in vitro. The obtained results show the ability of molasses to impact the rumen microbiota, leading to increased proportions of some peculiar bacterial families and reduced amounts of others, thus resulting in different VFA production and composition. The aim of this study was to assess if molasses could modify VFA production and the rumen microbial community in vitro. Three beet (treatment Beet) and three cane (treatment Cane) molasses preparations were randomly selected from a variety of samples collected worldwide and incubated in vitro with rumen fluid along with a control sample (treatment CTR, in which no molasses was used). Flasks for VFA analysis were sampled at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 24 h of each incubation. For microbiota analysis, samples from each fermentation flask after 12 and 24 h were subjected to microbial DNA extraction and V3–V4 16S rRNA gene sequencing on an Illumina MiSeq platform. Total net VFA production was higher in the beet and cane preparations than in the control (CTR) group at 24 h (33 mmol/L, 34 mmol/L, and 24.8 mmol/L, respectively), and the composition of VFAs was affected by the inclusion of molasses: acetic acid increased in the CTR group (73.5 mol%), while propionic acid increased in the beet and cane molasses (19.6 mol% and 18.6 mol%, respectively), and butyric acid increased, especially in the cane group (23.2 mol%). Molasses even influenced the composition of the rumen microbiota, and particularly the relative abundance of the most dominant family in the rumen, Prevotellaceae, which decreased compared to CTR (37.13%, 28.88%, and 49.6%, respectively). In contrast, Streptococcaceae (19.62% and 28.10% in molasses compared to 6.23% in CTR), Veillonellaceae (6.48% and 8.67% in molasses compared to 4.54% in CTR), and Fibrobacteraceae (0.90% and 0.88% in molasses compared to 0.62% in CTR) increased in the beet and cane groups compared to the CTR group. Another important finding is the lower proportion of Methanobacteriaceae following the addition of molasses compared to CTR (0.26%, 0.28%, and 0.43%, respectively). This study showed the impact of molasses in influencing VFA production and composition as a result of a modified rumen microbial composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Both in human medicine and in the veterinary field, lipidomic techniques have been applied extensively in order to evaluate health status. In equine species where the subject of focus is the fertility and sperm quality of the equids, lipidomic assessment can be a useful tool to better understand the metabolic transformation of the fatty acids of the spermatozoa as well as the erythrocyte membrane and their role on spermiogenesis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the composition of the spermatozoa's membranes of 26 healthy male Martina Franca donkeys and the possible correlation with the sperm parameters and the erythrocytes' membrane. The results demonstrate that the membrane of erythrocytes and spermatozoa are different, which provides a deeper understanding of the distribution and the role of these fatty acids in sperm parameters that are highly associated with fertility. Fatty acid-based lipidomic analysis has been widely used to evaluate health status in human medicine as well as in the veterinary field. In equine species, there has been a developing interest in fertility and sperm quality. Fatty acids, being the principal components of the membranes, play an active role in the regulation of the metabolic activities, and their role on spermiogenesis seems to be of great importance for the resulting quality of the sperm and, thus, fertility. With the application of widely used lipidomic techniques, the aim of this study was to evaluate: (a) the fatty acid content of the spermatozoa's membranes of 26 healthy male Martina Franca donkeys and its possible correlation with sperm parameters, and (b) the evaluation of the composition of the red blood cells' membrane. PUFA omega-6 are the principal components (40.38%) of the total PUFA content (47.79%) in both types of cells; however, DPA is the predominant one on the spermatozoa's membrane (27.57%) but is not present in the erythrocyte's membrane. Spermatozoa's motility (%) is positively correlated with stearic acid and EPA, and progressive motility (%), with oleic acid. These findings offer information on the composition of both types of cells' membranes in healthy male MF donkeys and reflect the metabolic transformations of the spermatozoa's membrane during the maturation period, providing a better perception of the role of fatty acids in sperm parameters and fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: One-third of the global food produced for human consumption is wasted every year. This leads to the wasting of economic, environmental, and social resources. The reallocation of some unconventional agro-industrial by-products, such as former foods or distiller grains, into the animal feed chain, can contribute to increasing the sustainability of livestock production, reducing the need for natural resources such as arable soil, water, fertilisers, and fuels, and consequentially reduce the impact of animal requirements. Many agro-food industrial by-products are already used in animal feeding, but the potential of these feed ingredients has not yet been fully investigated, especially in ruminant nutrition. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the substitution, in dairy cow rations, of traditional protein and starch sources with more sustainable "circular" feeds to increase the sustainability of dairy production. For this purpose, eight multiparous mid-lactating cows were blocked and assigned to one of four treatments and were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin squares design with 21-days periods (14 days of adaptation and 7 of data collection). Two different circular feedstuffs were tested: a bakery's former foodstuff (FF) and a wheat distiller's grain with solubles (WDGS). These ingredients were used, alone and in combination, in three experimental diets (FF, WDGS; FF + WDGS) and compared to a standard ration (CTR). Dry matter intake and rumination time were not influenced by these diets. Conversely, dietary treatments partially influenced the milk yield, rumen pH, Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA) production, and fibre digestibility. In particular, the combined inclusion of FF and WDGS increased milk production (37.39 vs. 36.92, 35.48, 35.71 kg/day, for FF, WDGS and CTR diets, respectively) and reduced milk urea content (13.14 vs. 16.19, 15.58, 16.95 mg/dL for FF, WDGS, and CTR diets, respectively). No effects of this association were found in the milk composition, acetic and propionic production, and fibre digestibility. These results suggest that the association of former foodstuff and wheat distillers' grains could be safely included in dairy cow rations to increase the sustainability of cow nutrition and improve milk production without impairing animal health, dry matter intake, and fibre digestibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Dairy cows are often exposed to stressors during the lactation cycle. Nutritional stressors could be caused by rich-grain diet, leading to ruminal pH reduction and subsequent systemic inflammation. This metabolic pathology impacts animal health and productivity. Feed additives could provide beneficial effects on innate immune function in dairy cows, especially during stressing periods. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of OmniGen-AF on measures of immunity, inflammation, and liver function in lactating dairy cows fed a high-starch, low-fiber diet. Changes in rumination, pH, and volatile fatty acids were recorded. Treated cows resulted in better rumen volatile fatty acids profile and also showed shifts in hematological parameters compatible with a prompter regeneration of red blood cells, greater proportion of neutrophils, lower levels on GGT, PON, and BHB. These results show evidence of the nutritional stress induced by feeding a high-starch, low-fiber diet, and suggest that the fed additive tested modulates some of the metabolic and immunological responses to sub-acute ruminal acidosis. Dairy cows are often exposed to multiple stressors in a lactation-cycle, with sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA) a frequent example of nutritional stress. SARA affects ruminal and intestinal equilibrium resulting in dysbiosis with localized and systemic inflammation impacting animal health and productivity. OmniGen-AF (OMN, Phibro Animal Health Corporation, Teaneck, NJ, USA) is a feed product recognized for modulating innate immune function, especially during periods of stress. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of OMN in lactating dairy cows fed a high-starch, low-fiber diet. Twenty-four blocked cows were assigned to control or treatment (55 g/d). After the additive adaptation (49 d) cows were fed the challenge diet (28 d). Milk, rumination and pH were continuously recorded; components, rumen fluid, and blood were taken in multiple time-point and analyzed. Results showed that the challenge decreased the rumination, shifted ruminal fluid composition, decreased milk production and the components, and slightly increased the time below pH 5.5, with no differences between groups. The treatment produced greater rumen butyrate and lower lactate, prompter regeneration of red blood cells, increase of neutrophils, lower paraoxonase, gamma-glutamyl-transferase, and β-hydroxybutyrate, with no differences on other tested inflammatory markers. Results show that OMN helps modulating some of the metabolic and immunological responses to SARA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Identifying effective and economically feasible changes to apply at the farming level to improve animal welfare are of great importance. Horses reared for meat production are conventionally fed high amounts of concentrates rich in starch and simple sugars; however, horses are herbivores and adapted to eat a fibre-based diet. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of two different feeding management systems on the behavioural activities and subsequent welfare of horses reared for meat purposes. Our findings provide new insights into the positive consequences of feeding horses reared for meat production on a fibre-based diet in terms of both welfare and farming economics. This change in feed management allows horses to express a more natural time budget, spending more time expressing feeding behaviour, which improves horse welfare and reduces energy expenditure in the form of excitable behaviours. Horses reared for meat production are generally fed a diet rich in starch with the aim of maximizing production performances. This study evaluated the effects of two feeding management systems on horse welfare by analysing the relative time spent engaged in different behavioural activities. Nineteen Bardigiano horses aged 14.3 ± 0.7 months were randomly assigned to one of two group pens: one group was fed high amounts of starch-rich concentrates (HCG; n = 10), the other was fed a fibre-based diet (HFG; n = 9). Behavioural activities performed by each horse were video-recorded over a 96-h period. A scan sampling process (n = 144 scans/horse/day; total n of scans sampled = 10,368) was used, and the scans were analysed according to a specific ethogram. The mean frequency (%/24 h) spent exhibiting each behavioural activity was calculated to obtain the time budget. After checking for normality (Shapiro–Wilk test), Student's t tests (normally distributed data) and Mann–Whitney tests (not normally distributed data) were used to compare the time budgets of the two groups of horses (HCG vs. HFG). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to identify the components explaining the variability in behavioural activities between the two groups. K-means cluster analysis subsequently confirmed the PCA results. The behavioural activities associated with feeding horses a fibre-based diet correlated with better horse welfare compared with feeding horses a starch-based diet. Feeding horses a fibre-based diet resulted advantageous from both the welfare and economic perspective; it allowed horses to spend more time expressing feeding behaviours and reduced energy expenditure in the form of excitable, or "fizzy", behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Milk fatty acid composition and gene expression in the mammary gland were evaluated in dairy ewes supplemented with linseed. The linseed supplementation improves the health and nutrition quality properties of dairy milk, besides affecting the expression of gene networks related to energy balance, RNA binding, circadian rhythm, and nutrient metabolism. This molecular knowledge on the physiology of the mammary gland might provide the basis for more detailed functional studies for future research. Several dietary strategies were adopted to reduce saturated fatty acids and increase beneficial fatty acids (FA) for human health. Few studies are available about the pathways/genes involved in these processes. Illumina RNA-sequencing was used to investigate changes in the ovine mammary gland transcriptome following supplemental feeding with 20% extruded linseed. Comisana ewes in mid-lactation were fed a control diet for 28 days (control period) followed by supplementation with 20% DM of linseed panel for 28 days (treatment period). Milk production was decreased by 30.46% with linseed supplementation. Moreover, a significant reduction in fat, protein and lactose secretion was also observed. Several unsaturated FAs were increased while short and medium chain saturated FAs were decreased by linseed treatment. Around four thousand (1795 up- and 2133 down-regulated) genes were significantly differentially regulated by linseed supplementation. The main pathways affected by linseed supplementation were those involved in the energy balance of the mammary gland. Principally, the mammary gland of fed linseed sheep showed a reduced abundance of transcripts related to the synthesis of lipids and carbohydrates and oxidative phosphorylation. Our study suggests that the observed decrease in milk saturated FA was correlated to down-regulation of genes in the lipid synthesis and lipid metabolism pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This study aimed at investigating which pre-slaughter parameters determine variations in the quality of the loin derived from pigs intended for Italian PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) products. Data were collected on 44 commercial shipments of Italian heavy pigs. Meat quality parameters (pH, color lightness, drip loss, cooking loss, and shear force) identified two clusters: 'Higher Quality' (HQ) and 'Lower Quality' (LQ). The parameters which differed more widely between the two clusters were journey duration, ambient temperature, distance traveled and irregular behaviors (slipping, falling, and overlapping) at unloading. Among the pre slaughter parameters which negatively affect pork quality, consideration should be given to ambient temperatures above 22 °C, distance traveled above 26 km, travel duration between 38 and 66 min, and more than 5.9% of animals showing irregular behaviors at unloading. Journeys involving one or more of these risk factors may require additional attention in terms of animal welfare in order to obtain meat suitable for high-quality productions. This study focused on loin quality in Italian heavy pigs intended for the production of PDOs (Protected Designation of Origin) products, and investigated the pre-slaughter factors which negatively affect the quality of fresh meat. Data were collected on 44 shipments (loads) of pigs. Shipments were carried out under commercial conditions. Several pre-slaughter parameters were recorded within the entire process (on-farm, during transport, and at the slaughterhouse). On a subset of pigs (10 animals from every load, N = 440), serum cortisol and creatine kinase were measured and loin samples were analyzed for pH, instrumental color, drip loss, cooking loss, shear force, and sensory quality. Cluster analysis of the instrumentally-assessed meat quality parameters allowed the categorization of the shipments into two clusters: lower quality (LQ) and higher quality (HQ). Our results showed that the factors with significant differences between the two clusters were journey duration, ambient temperature, distance traveled, and irregular behaviors (slipping, falling, and overlapping) at unloading (all greater in LQ, p < 0.05). The pre-slaughter conditions associated with lower loin quality were ambient temperatures above 22 °C, distance traveled above 26 km, travel duration between 38–66 min, more than 5.9% of animals showing irregular behaviors at unloading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Horses reared for meat production are kept in group pens at high stocking densities. Due to the lack of scientific knowledge concerning the welfare of horses reared in this way, the aim of the present work was to assess whether their behaviours were affected by stocking density. The time-budget of the horses was also studied to evaluate if and how it differed compared with that of wild-living horses. We found that the expression of locomotion, playing, and self-grooming increased as the space allowance per horse within the group pens increased, indicating the potential to use these behaviours as indicators of positive welfare. Moreover, an altered time-budget was identified, implicating the condition of compromised welfare in these animals. Standing was the main expressed behavioural activity. A higher than usual amount of time was spent in a lying position, and a lower than usual amount of time was dedicated to feeding and locomotion. This study was the first to assess the behaviour of horses reared for meat production. The results show that more attention needs to be directed at the housing and management conditions under which horses reared for meat production are kept in in order to improve their welfare. Horses reared for meat production can be kept in intensive breeding farms where they are housed in group pens at high stocking densities. The present study aimed to evaluate whether the expressed behaviours correlated with stocking density, and to compare their time-budget with that of wild-living horses. An ethogram of 13 mutually exclusive behavioural activities was developed. Behavioural observations were performed over a 72 h period on group pens selected on the basis of stocking density and the homogeneity of breed, age, height at the withers, and time since arriving at the farm. Scan sampling (n = 96 scans/horse/day) was used on 22 horses. The mean frequency (%) ± standard deviation (±SD) for each behavioural activity was calculated to obtain the time-budget. The associations between time-budget and stocking density were evaluated using a bivariate analysis. The relationships were analysed by Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). Our results show that locomotion, playing, and self-grooming positively correlated with a reduction in stocking density, indicating the potential to use these behaviours as positive welfare indicators for young horses kept in group pens. The data also revealed an unusual time-budget, where the main behavioural activity expressed was standing (30.56% ± 6.56%), followed by feeding (30.55% ± 3.59%), lying (27.33% ± 2.05%), and locomotion (4.07% ± 1.06%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This study aimed at identifying, on the basis of objective evaluations (blood parameters): (1) the pre-slaughter treatments that result in higher stress for heavy pigs and can therefore be used as pre-slaughter stress indicators; (2) the meat quality parameters that show the largest variation as a response to the stress experienced during pre-slaughter handling. Two blood parameters (cortisol and creatine kinase) were used to categorize pigs into two groups (clusters) depending on transport conditions: "higher stress" and "lower stress". Our results indicate that the variables/indexes which differed more widely between the two clusters (namely, average vehicle speed during transport, welfare slaughter score, overall transport and slaughter welfare index (TSWI), distance travelled, group stability, and behaviors—slips, falls, and overlaps—during unloading) might be considered as the best descriptors of the welfare conditions experienced by Italian heavy pigs during pre-slaughter handling. However, we observed no consistent effects of the stress experienced during pre-slaughter handling on meat quality, which warrants the need for further studies addressing: (1) the individual stress response and meat quality variability in pigs within the same transport; (2) the relationships between the variables examined and meat quality, with the aim to improve the TSWI. This study aimed at identifying possible pre-slaughter indicators and/or indexes to be used to predict pig stress response and meat quality variation. Data were collected on 44 shipments (loads) of Italian heavy pigs. For each shipment, several pre-slaughter parameters were recorded on farm, during transport, and at the slaughterhouse. Blood and meat samples were taken from 10 pigs from every of the 44 loads included in the study (N = 440). Blood samples were used to assess cortisol and creatine kinase levels, whereas meat samples were used to assess meat quality (pH, instrumental color, tenderness, water-holding capacity, and sensory analysis). Cluster analysis of blood parameters allowed the categorization of the shipments into two main clusters: Lower Stress (LS) and Higher Stress (HS). The variables/indexes statistically differing between the two clusters were: average vehicle speed during transport, welfare index at slaughter (i.e., "slaughter score"), overall transport and slaughter welfare index (TSWI), distance travelled, and behaviors (slips, falls, overlaps) during unloading, which appeared to be the best descriptors of the welfare conditions experienced by Italian heavy pigs during pre-slaughter handling. No consistent effects of the stress level experienced on meat quality was detected, which warrants the need for further studies conducted under more variable pre-slaughter conditions, with the aim of simplifying and improving the TSWI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]