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Behavioral analysis and performance response of feedlot ssteers on concrete slats versus rubber slats
Concrete slats as a flooring substrate pose welfare concerns for feedlot cattle. An alternative system includes overlying rubber mats that fit existing slats. In this series of trials, 3 sets of 16 steers were housed on either concrete slats (CONC) or rubber covered concrete slats (RUBBER) during their finishing period. Each trial had 4 pens of 4 steers each, with two pens per treatment. Animals were fed a finishing diet once per day, the room was held at 18.3 C with continuous illumination. Cattle DMI, ADG, G:F, weight, and carpus circumference, were tracked for the duration of the finishing period, up to 128 d. Lying and standing duration behavior was also measured on each treatment. Cattle also had their blood sampled at regular intervals for complete blood count analysis. After slaughter, carcass characteristics and front limbs were collected for soft tissue and histological examination. For growth measurements and CBC panel data, with pen as the experimental unit, there were no treatment differences (P > 0.05). Carpal circumference was larger on CONC than on RUBBER as each trial progressed, and in particular, the left carpus increased at a faster rate on CONC. Lying and standing behavior differed between treatment groups: on CONC, cattle consistently had fewer lying bouts per day than steers on RUBBER; in trial 1, the average number per day was 21.2 ± 1.3 on CONC and 25.1 ± 1.3 on RUBBER (P = 0.0039). In trial 2, lying and standing duration behavior did not differ between treatments. The average number of lying bouts per 24 hr period was 33.1 ± 2.2 and 39.2 ± 2.2 on CONC and RUBBER respectively (P = 0.0068). In trial 3, average number of lying bouts per 24 hr period was 14.6 ± 1.4 on CONC and 21.3 ± 1.4 on RUBBER (P< 0.0001).The behavioral results in conjunction with the joint circumference results, indicate that cattle were experiencing a greater amount of discomfort in lying and standing transition phases. It is concluded that steers on RUBBER have a higher standard of welfare than cattle on CONC.
Keywords: cattle, joint, rubber, lying