Effect of concrete slats, three mat types and out-wintering pads on performance and welfare of finishing beef steers

Bernadette Earley,Edward G O’Riordan,John D Mcnamara,Stephen J Jerrams

doi:10.1186/s13028-017-0302-3

Bernadette Earley, Edward G O’Riordan + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13028-017-0302-3

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Abstract

BackgroundThe objective was to investigate the effect of placing mats on concrete slatted floors on performance, behaviour, hoof condition, dirt scores, physiological and immunological variables of beef steers, and to compare responses with animals on out-wintering pads. Continental crossbred beef steers [n = 360; mean (±SD) initial live weight 539 kg (42.2)] were blocked by breed and live weight and randomly assigned to one of five treatments; (1) Concrete slats alone, (2) Mat 1 (Natural Rubber structure) (Durapak Rubber Products), (3) Mat 2 (Natural rubber structure) (EasyFix), (4) Mat 3 (modified ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) foam structure) and (5) Out-wintering pads (OWP’s).ResultsAnimals on the OWPs had a greater (P < 0.05) live weight gain (P < 0.05) compared with the slat and Mat 2 treatments: results for Mat 1 and Mat 3 were the same (P > 0.05) as the other treatments. Animals on the OWPs had reduced lying percentage time compared with all the other treatments. Dry matter (DM) intake was greater for animals on the OWPs compared with all the other treatments. Carcass weight, kill out proportion, carcass fat score, carcass composition score, FCR and physiological responses were similar (P > 0.05) among treatments. No incidence of laminitis was observed among treatments. The number of hoof lesions was greater on all mat types (P < 0.05) compared with concrete slats and OWP treatments. Dirt scores were greater (P < 0.05) for animals on OWPs when measured on days 42, 84, 105, 126 and 150 compared with animals on slats.ConclusionsUnder the conditions adopted for the present study, there was no evidence to suggest that animals housed on bare concrete slats were disadvantaged in respect of animal welfare compared with animals housed on other floor types. It is concluded that the welfare of steers was not adversely affected by slats compared with different mat types or OWPs.

Highlights

The objective was to investigate the effect of placing mats on concrete slatted floors on performance, behaviour, hoof condition, dirt scores, physiological and immunological variables of beef steers, and to compare responses with animals on out-wintering pads
The number of hoof lesions was greater on all mat types (P < 0.05) compared with concrete slats and out-wintering pads (OWPs) treatments (Table 3)
Kill out proportion, carcass fat score, carcass composition score, and Feed conversion ratio (FCR), and physiological responses were similar among treatments

Summary

Introduction

The objective was to investigate the effect of placing mats on concrete slatted floors on performance, behaviour, hoof condition, dirt scores, physiological and immunological variables of beef steers, and to compare responses with animals on out-wintering pads. There is a shortage of published research on the effect of placing mats on concrete slats in facilities for winter finishing beef cattle. Most previous housing studies reported significant behavioural alterations concerning the welfare of cattle accommodated on fully slatted concrete floors [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. The OWP system has been shown, under experimental conditions, to meet environmental guidelines as well as being capable of supporting satisfactory animal performance, health and welfare [18]

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