Shade and water misting effects on behavior, physiology, performance, and carcass traits of heat-stressed feedlot cattle.

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (9) ◽  
pp. 2327 ◽  
Author(s):  
F M Mitlöhner ◽  
J L Morrow ◽  
J W Dailey ◽  
S C Wilson ◽  
M L Galyean ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen M Koenig ◽  
Gwinyai E Chibisa ◽  
Gregory B Penner ◽  
Karen A Beauchemin

Abstract High grain diets are fed to finishing beef cattle to maximize animal performance in a cost-effective manner. However, a small amount of roughage is incorporated in finishing diets to help prevent ruminal acidosis, although few studies have examined optimum roughage inclusion level in barley-based diets. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of roughage proportion in barley-based finishing diets on growth performance, feeding behavior, and carcass traits of feedlot cattle. Crossbred beef steers (n = 160; mean body weight ± SD, 349.7 ± 21.4 kg) were allocated to 20 pens that were assigned randomly to four dietary treatments (five pens of eight steers per treatment). The treatment diets contained barley silage at 0%, 4%, 8%, and 12% of dietary dry matter (DM). The remainder of the diets (DM basis) consisted of 80%, 76%, 72%, and 68% barley grain, respectively, 15% corn dried distiller’s grains, 5% mineral and vitamin supplement, and 32 mg monensin/kg diet DM. The diets were fed as total mixed rations for ad libitum intake (minimum of 5% refusal) once per day. Cattle were weighed on 2 consecutive days at the start and end of the experiment and on 1 d every 3 wk throughout the experiment (124 d). Two pens for each treatment group were equipped with an electronic feeding system (GrowSafe Systems Ltd., Calgary, Alberta) to monitor feed intake and feeding behavior of individual cattle. The data for dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG), gain:feed (G:F) ratio, and carcass traits were analyzed as a completely randomized design with fixed effect of barley silage proportion and pen replicate as experimental unit. Feeding behavior data were analyzed similarly, but with animal as experimental unit. Averaged over the study, DMI increased linearly (11.1, 11.3, 11.7, 11.8 kg/d; P = 0.001) as barley silage proportion increased from 0%, 4%, 8%, and 12% of DM, but ADG was not affected (carcass-adjusted,1.90, 1.85, 1.87, 1.89 kg/d; P ≥ 0.30). Consequently, G:F ratio decreased linearly (carcass-adjusted, 168.9, 163.8, 158.5, 160.6 g/kg DMI; P = 0.023). When averaged over the study, proportion of barley silage in the diet had no linear or quadratic effects (P > 0.10) on meal frequency, duration of meals, intermeal duration, or meal size, but eating rate decreased linearly with increasing silage proportion (P = 0.008). There was no diet effect on liver abscesses (P ≥ 0.92), and effects on carcass characteristics were minor or nonexistent. We conclude that increasing the proportion of barley silage in a feedlot finishing diet at the expense of barley grain to minimize the incidence of ruminal acidosis may decrease feed conversion efficiency.


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (11) ◽  
pp. 4405-4417 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N Kelly ◽  
Craig Murphy ◽  
Roy D Sleator ◽  
Michelle M Judge ◽  
Stephen B Conroy ◽  
...  

Abstract Some definitions of feed efficiency such as residual energy intake (REI) and residual gain (RG) may not truly reflect production efficiency. The energy sinks used in the derivation of the traits include metabolic live-weight; producers finishing cattle for slaughter are, however, paid on the basis of carcass weight, as opposed to live-weight. The objective of the present study was to explore alternative definitions of REI and RG which are more reflective of production efficiency, and quantify their relationship with performance, ultrasound, and carcass traits across multiple breeds and sexes of cattle. Feed intake and live-weight records were available on 5,172 growing animals, 2,187 of which also had information relating to carcass traits; all animals were fed a concentrate-based diet representative of a feedlot diet. Animal linear mixed models were used to estimate (co)variance components. Heritability estimates for all derived REI traits varied from 0.36 (REICWF; REI using carcass weight and carcass fat as energy sinks) to 0.50 (traditional REI derived with the energy sinks of both live-weight and ADG). The heritability for the RG traits varied from 0.24 to 0.34. Phenotypic correlations among all definitions of the REI traits ranged from 0.90 (REI with REICWF) to 0.99 (traditional REI with REI using metabolic preslaughter live-weight and ADG). All were different (P < 0.001) from one suggesting reranking of animals when using different definitions of REI to identify efficient cattle. The derived RG traits were either weakly or not correlated (P > 0.05) with the ultrasound and carcass traits. Genetic correlations between the REI traits with carcass weight, dressing difference (i.e., live-weight immediately preslaughter minus carcass weight) and dressing percentage (i.e., carcass weight divided by live-weight immediately preslaughter) implies that selection on any of the REI traits will increase carcass weight, lower the dressing difference and increase dressing percentage. Selection on REICW (REI using carcass weight as an energy sink), as opposed to traditional REI, should increase the carcass weight 2.2 times slower but reduce the dressing difference 4.3 times faster. While traditionally defined REI is informative from a research perspective, the ability to convert energy into live-weight gain does not necessarily equate to carcass gain, and as such, traits such as REICW and REICWF provide a better description of production efficiency for feedlot cattle.


2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 878-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Rincon ◽  
E. A. Farber ◽  
C. R. Farber ◽  
J. D. Nkrumah ◽  
J. F. Medrano

Author(s):  
Emilie A-L Flattot ◽  
Tony R Batterham ◽  
Edouard Timsit ◽  
Brad J White ◽  
Joe P McMeniman ◽  
...  

Abstract Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most important and costly health issue of the feedlot industry worldwide. Remote monitoring of reticulorumen temperature has been suggested as a potential tool to improve the diagnostic accuracy of BRD. The present study aimed to evaluate 1) the difference and degree of reticulorumen hyperthermia episodes between healthy and subclinical BRD feedlot steers, 2) determine the correlation between reticulorumen hyperthermia and lung pathology, performance, and carcass traits. Mixed-breed feedlot steers (n= 148) with a mean arrival weight of 321 ± 3.34 kg were administered a reticulorumen bolus at feedlot entry and monitored for visual and audible signs of BRD until slaughter when lungs were examined and scored for lesions indicative of BRD. Post-slaughter animals with no record of BRD treatment were assigned to one of three case definitions. Healthy steers had no visual or audible signs of BRD (i.e., CIS=1), and total lung consolidation score &lt; 5% or pleurisy score &lt; 3 at slaughter. Subclinical BRD cases had a CIS of 1, and a lung consolidation score ≥ 5% or a pleurisy score of 3 at slaughter. Mild CIS cases had at least one CIS of 2, and a lung consolidation score &lt; 5% and a pleurisy score &lt; 3 at slaughter. Subclinical BRD and mild CIS cases had longer total duration of reticulorumen hyperthermia, more episodes and longer average episode duration above 40.0°C compared to healthy steers (P &lt; 0.05). A moderate positive correlation was found between lung consolidation and total duration (r = 0.27, P &lt; 0.001), episode duration (r = 0.29, P &lt; 0.001) and number of episodes (r = 0.20, P &lt; 0.05). Pleurisy score was also found to be moderately and positively correlated with total duration (r = 0.23, P &lt; 0.01), episode duration (r = 0.37, P &lt; 0.001) and number of episodes (r = 0.26, P &lt; 0.01). Moderate negative correlations were found between reticulorumen hyperthermia and carcass traits including hot standard carcass weight (HSCW) (- 0.22 ≤ r ≤ - 0.23, P &lt; 0.05) and P8-fat depth (- 0.18 ≤ r ≤ - 0.32, P &lt; 0.05). Subclinical BRD reduced carcass weight by 22 kg and average daily gain (ADG) by 0.44 kg/day compared to healthy steers (P &lt; 0.05), but mild CIS cases had no effect on performance (P &gt; 0.05). The reticulorumen bolus technology appears promising for detection of subclinical BRD cases in feedlot cattle as defined by lung pathology at slaughter.


2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. He ◽  
L. Xu ◽  
W. Z. Yang ◽  
D. Gibb ◽  
T. A. McAllister

He, M. L., Xu, L., Yang, W. Z., Gibb, D. and McAllister, T. A. 2014. Effect of low-oil corn dried distillers’ grains with solubles on growth performance, carcass traits and beef fatty acid profile of feedlot cattle. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 343–347. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of low-oil corn dried distillers’ grains with solubles (LO-DDGS) on growth, carcass traits and beef fatty acids profiles of finishing feedlot cattle. One hundred and eighty British crossbred steers (450±28.5 kg; six pens/treatment) were offered barley grain-barley silage as the control diet with LO-DDGS replacing barley grain at 200 and 300 g kg−1 dry matter basis in treatment diets. Compared with control, LO-DDGS at 200 g kg−1 did not affect growth performance or carcass traits, whereas at 300 g kg−1 it decreased (P<0.05) gain:feed, but increased (P<0.05) levels of desirable fatty acids in beef. LO-DDGS can replace 200 g kg−1 barley grain in finishing feedlot diets without undesirable impacts on growth performance or carcass traits.


2010 ◽  
Vol 129 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 135-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Wang ◽  
A.V. Chaves ◽  
F.L. Rigby ◽  
M.L. He ◽  
T.A. McAllister

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Blakebrough-Hall ◽  
Joe P McMeniman ◽  
Luciano A González

Abstract Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) causes significant economic losses to the feedlot industry due to decreased production and increased costs associated with treatment. This study aimed to assess the impacts of BRD on performance, carcass traits, and economic outcomes defined using four BRD diagnosis methods: number of BRD treatments an animal received, pleural lesions at slaughter, lung lesions at slaughter, and clinical BRD status defined using both treatment records and lung and pleural lesions. Crossbred steers (n = 898), with an initial body weight of 432 kg (± SD 51), were followed from feedlot entry to slaughter. Veterinary treatment records were collected and lungs scored at slaughter for lesions indicative of BRD. There was an 18% morbidity rate and a 2.1% BRD mortality rate, with an average net loss of AUD$1,647.53 per BRD mortality. Animals treated ≥3 times for BRD had 39.6 kg lighter carcasses at slaughter and returned an average of AUD$384.97 less compared to animals never treated for BRD (P &lt; 0.001). Animals with severe lung lesions at slaughter grew 0.3 kg/d less, had 14.3 kg lighter carcasses at slaughter, and returned AUD$91.50 less than animals with no lung lesions (P &lt; 0.001). Animals with subclinical and clinical BRD had 16.0 kg and 24.1 kg lighter carcasses, respectively, and returned AUD$67.10 and AUD$213.90 less at slaughter, respectively, compared to healthy animals that were never treated with no lesions (P &lt; 0.001). The severity of BRD based on the number of treatments an animal received and the severity of lung and pleural lesions reduced animal performance, carcass weight and quality, and economic returns. Subclinical BRD reduced animal performance and economic returns compared to healthy animals; however, subclinical animals still had greater performance than animals with clinical BRD. This information can be used to plan for strategic investments aimed at reducing the impacts of BRD in feedlot cattle such as improved detection methods for subclinical animals with lesions at slaughter and BRD treatment protocols.


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