Transportation of Livestock Species

Transportation of farm animals has been largely debated over the years as it is an animal welfare issue, resulting in animal losses and fatigued animals, a legal issue with reviews and updates being required for current legislations and codes of practice, and a product quality issue, resulting in carcass depreciation and product quality defects. The main hazards identified during transport are the condition or fitness of the animal prior to transport, inadequate loading/unloading and vehicle design, poor within vehicle microclimate control resulting in too cold or too warm and humid conditions, and high concentrations of noxious gases, vehicle vibrations and noise, overcrowding, travel duration, food and water deprivation, animal fatigue and injuries and personnel training in animal handling and vehicle driving.

The goal of this topic collection is to present the latest outputs of livestock transportation research, particularly using the one health and one welfare approach, related to animal welfare and health monitoring, personnel training, preparation of animals prior to transport, vehicle design, handling at loading and unloading, fitness for travel, travel duration, duration and conditions of rest stops, space allowance, feeding and watering practices before, during, and after transport, ambient control, vehicle driving quality, animals’ reception at the final destination, post-transport recovery conditions, and all other possible risk factors for the welfare of transported animals.

The objective of this research topic series is to get the most up-to-date and impactful collection of inter-disciplinary research on this topic. With your recognized knowledge and expertise in one or more research fields related to this topic, such as animal welfare, biometeorology, stress physiology, animal health, animal behaviour and food science, your contributions will be welcomed. This topic collection welcomes original research articles and reviews showing the evidence of the effects of the stress of transportation, by road, air and sea, on animal welfare-based indicators and/or product quality of livestock species, and proposing mitigating strategies to ensure the respect of animal physical and thermal needs and improve the sustainability of the livestock transport sector.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Animal welfare, livestock, product quality, stress, transportation, livestock transport sector, biometeorology, stress physiology, animal health, animal behaviour

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.