scholarly journals Assessment of Rumen Mucosa, Lung, and Liver Lesions at Slaughter as Benchmarking Tool for the Improvement of Finishing Beef Cattle Health and Welfare

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Magrin ◽  
Marta Brscic ◽  
Isabella Lora ◽  
Paola Prevedello ◽  
Barbara Contiero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Severe Pneumonia ◽  
Liver Lesions ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Live Animal ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Alarm Threshold ◽  
Finishing Beef Cattle ◽  
Benchmarking System ◽  
Specific Health

Abattoir post-mortem inspections offer a useful tool for animal disease surveillance. The present cross-sectional study aimed at assessing the prevalence of rumen mucosa, lung, and liver lesions in 153 randomly selected batches of finishing beef cattle through a post-mortem inspection at the abattoir. At least 15 animals per batch were inspected at slaughter by two veterinarians for a total of 2,161 animals (1,376 bulls; 785 heifers) coming from 80 Italian commercial farms. Rumens were inspected by recording as binary variables (presence/absence) signs of hyperkeratosis, ruminitis, ulcer, and star scars. Similarly, lungs were inspected for signs of pneumonia and livers for signs of lipidosis, abscesses, and/or adherence. Hyperkeratosis of the mucosa and signs of ruminitis were detected in 58 and 30% of the inspected rumens, respectively. Ruminal star scars were more prevalent in bulls than in heifers (18 vs. 11%; P < 0.05). Signs of severe pneumonia were observed in 10% of the lungs; abscess and/or adherence in 4% of the livers. Hyperkeratosis of rumen mucosa was correlated to signs of ruminitis, and signs of ruminitis were correlated to star scars. No correlations were found between hepatic lesions and any other rumen or lung disorders. The wide variability observed among batches for the prevalence of specific lesions suggested the development of a benchmarking system to provide feedback to the farm veterinarians, as these lesions can be reflective of a subclinical disease status not easy to be detected in the live animal. Quartiles of the batch prevalence of rumen, lung, and liver alterations (if ≥1%) were calculated as a benchmarking tool, and third quartile value was proposed as an alarm threshold for each lesion. The use of the benchmarking system could allow to allocate each inspected batch to a specific “health class.” Critical batches with a prevalence above the alarm threshold for a given lesion should be reported to veterinarians of the origin farms where actions should be taken in order to identify and lower the risk factors for that specific health issue. Knowledge of post-mortem inspection data along with the implementation of the proposed benchmarking system should help farm veterinarians to improve herd management from a health and welfare perspective.

An overview of claw disorders at slaughter in finishing beef cattle reared in intensive indoor systems through a cross-sectional study

2018 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 83-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Magrin ◽  
Marta Brscic ◽  
Leonardo Armato ◽  
Barbara Contiero ◽  
Giulio Cozzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Finishing Beef Cattle

Effect of Soybean, Feather and Hair Meals and Fat on the Performance of Growing-Finishing Beef Cattle

1979 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 748-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary I. Wray ◽  
W. M. Beeson ◽  
T. W. Perry ◽  
M. T. Mohler ◽  
E. Baugh
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Finishing Beef Cattle

Preferences of housed finishing beef cattle for different floor types

2000 ◽  
Vol 2000 ◽  
pp. 124-124
Author(s):  
D.E. Lowe ◽  
R.W.J. Steen ◽  
V.E. Beattie
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Human Perception ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Finishing Beef Cattle

There is increasing public concern about the welfare of farm animals and one of the issues recently raised has been the use of totally slatted floors for rearing and finishing beef cattle. However, human perception of the needs of animals may not necessarily reflect that of the animals' needs. The objective of this experiment was to examine beef cattle preferences for different floor types, in order to provide scientific information that will be valuable in formulating a policy on the housing requirements of beef cattle.

scholarly journals Abattoir-Based Measures to Assess Swine Welfare: Analysis of the Methods Adopted in European Slaughterhouses

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 226
Author(s):  
Silvio De Luca ◽  
Emanuela Zanardi ◽  
Giovanni Loris Alborali ◽  
Adriana Ianieri ◽  
Sergio Ghidini
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Present Review ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Gastric Lesions ◽  
Future Perspectives ◽  
The Future ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Benchmarking System

The assessment of swine welfare requires feasible, reliable, and reasonable indicators. On-farm evaluation of pig welfare can provide valuable information to veterinarians and farmers. However, such protocols can result expensive and time-consuming. With this regard, an interest in the appraisal of swine welfare at abattoir has grown over the recent years. In particular, the use of certain lesions collected directly from slaughtered animals to determine the welfare status of pigs has been evaluated by several authors. In the present review, the different methods developed to score lesions collected directly from the body and the viscera of animals slaughtered in European abattoirs (“abattoir-based measures”) are presented. The text specifically focuses on the methods currently available in the literature for the scoring of body, pluck and gastric lesions during post-mortem activities. Moreover, the strengths and weaknesses of abattoir-based measures schemes are discussed. To conclude, the future perspectives of the assessment of pig welfare at the slaughterhouse are described, appealing for a benchmarking system that can be systematically used by veterinarians and other professional figures involved in the process.

The area of eye muscle of beef cattle carcasses

1963 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
RM Seebeck
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Cross Sectional Area ◽  
Carcass Weight ◽  
Sectional Area ◽  
Muscle Area ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Angus Cattle ◽  
The Cross

Variations in the cross-sectional area of eye muscle of carcasses cut between the tenth and eleventh ribs were investigated, using 105 Hereford and 51 Angus steers aged 20 months. These cattle consisted of three groups, born in successive years. At constant carcass weight, statistically significant differences in eye muscle area were found between breeds and between years. Breed and year differences were also found in eye muscle area with width and depth of eye muscle constant, so that there are limitations to the estimation of eye muscle area from width and depth measurements. A nomograph is given for estimating eye muscle area from width and depth for Hereford and Angus cattle, when all animals are reared in the same year and environment. The use of eye muscle area as an indicator of weight of carcass muscle is discussed.

A comparison of wheat and barley as supplements to grass silage for finishing beef cattle

1993 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. J. Steen
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Spring Barley ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Ammonia Nitrogen ◽  
Carcass Composition ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Crude Fibre ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Soya Bean Meal ◽  
Finishing Beef Cattle

AbstractTwo randomized-block experiments were carried out to examine the relative value of wheat and barley as supplements to grass silage for finishing beef cattle. In each experiment unwilted, formic acid-treated silage was offered ad libitum and supplemented with 500 g soya-bean meal and 50 g minerals and vitamins to 44 12-month-old bulls for 157 and 172 days in experiments 1 and 2 respectively. Twelve of the animals also received 2·5 kg rolled spring barley (LB), 12 received 4·0 kg barley (HB) and 20 received 3·25 kg rolled wheat (W). For experiments 1 and 2 respectively the barley contained 796 and 787 g dry matter (DM) per kg; 118 and 105 g crude protein (CP) per kg DM; 47 and 57 g crude fibre per kg DM; the wheat contained 845 and 800 g DM per kg; 112 and 116 g CP per kg DM; 23 and 25 g crude fibre per kg DM; and the silages contained 190 and 177 g DM per kg; 153 and 176 g CP per kg DM; 80 and 104 g ammonia-nitrogen per kg total nitrogen. On average over the two experiments, for treatments LB, HB and W respectively, silage DM intakes were 5·4, 4·7 (s.e. 0·14) and 4·9 (s.e. 0·11) kg/day; total DM intakes 7·9, 8·3 (s.e. 0·14) and 8·1 (s.e. 0·11) kg/day; metabolizable energy intakes 91·4, 97·8 and 94·2 MJ/day; live-weight gains 1·04,1·19 (s.e. 0·029) and 1·10 (s.e. 0·023) kg/day and carcass gams 0·65, 0·77 (s.e. 0·017) and 0·70 (s.e. 0·013) kg/day. It is concluded that the feeding value of wheat was proportionately 0·98 of that of barley for finishing beef cattle when given as a supplement to grass silage, and that the type of cereal offered did not affect silage intake or carcass composition.

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