Effects of organic trace mineral supplementation on the prevalence of digital dermatitis in beef feedlot cattle

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of organic trace mineral (OTM) supplementation (Availa Plus, Zinpro Corporation) on the prevalence of digital dermatitis (DD) and growth performance in feedlot beef cattle. A blinded, randomized, controlled field study in a commercial beef cattle feedlot was performed for 11 mo. The study was conducted in 2 phases: the adaptation phase comprised the initial 60 d of feeding the control (CON) and OTM supplements, and the postadaptation phase continued until cattle were sent to slaughter. A total of 1,120 beef heifers were enrolled in the study distributed over 8 pens. The CON and OTM supplements were fed in their respective TMR. Regression analysis at the animal level indicated that during the postadaptation phase, there was a significantly lower rate of increase in DD lesions in the OTM group compared with the CON group. However, the pen-level analysis revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in DD lesions between the CON and OTM groups during the postadaptation phase. The analysis of hot carcass weight, centered around the mean, revealed that the OTM supplementation was significantly associated with an increase of 9.7 kg (2.9–16.5 95% CI) above the centered hot carcass weight per head at slaughter compared with cattle fed the CON diet. Centering around the mean was performed by subtracting the mean hot carcass weight from each hot carcass weight value in the data set. The OTM supplementation may help prevent DD and increase performance of beef feedlot cattle.