The Effects of Stocking Density and Distances on Electroencephalographic Changes and Cortisol as Welfare Indicators in Brahman Crossbred Cattle

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of stocking density and distances on electroencephalographic changes and cortisol as welfare indicators in Brahman crossbred cattle. Sixty Brahman crossbred heifers were subjected to road transport from a cattle feedlot farm located in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang to a commercial ruminant abattoir in Shah Alam, Selangor. Animals were assigned to long (850 km) and short (450 km) distances and high (600 sqm), medium (400 sqm), and low (200 sqm) stocking densities. Results revealed that the intensity of cortisol responses and EEG parameters (such as alpha <0.001, beta < 0.001, delta < 0.001, theta < 0.001, MF < 0.001 and Ptot < 0.001) increased significantly. Long-distance transport also resulted in significantly more intense (<0.001) responses to nociception during slaughter than animals that had been transported over a shorter distance, as indicated by EEG and cortisol.

Assessing resource utilisation in beef cattle feedlot system in Adamawa State, Nigeria

This study assessed resource utilisation in beef cattle fattening units in Adamawa State, Nigeria, with the intent of highlighting some crucial areas that may require policy intervention for improvement. Purposive, multistage and random sampling methods were employed in selection of 270 beef cattle fatteners in the area studied. Structured questionnaire and group discussion were used in sourcing for data. The latter were analysed through descriptive statistics and efficiency methods of Data Enveloping Analysis (DEA). Results indicated that Sokoto gudali (72.60%) and Rahaji (20.00%) were the major cattle breeds adopted for fattening. While a total of 70.70% of fatteners fed bulls for a period of 4-6 months and in the open without shade (77.80%), the use of combination of crop residues and conventional feeds was the most popular (74.81%) in feeding stock in the State. Further, the most important resources were initial cost of bulls and cost of feeds with N169,056.00 and N10,559.00 per bull, respectively. Resources were found to be efficiently utilised within the beef cattle feedlot farms with Constant Return to Scale (CRS), Non-Increasing Return to Scale (NIRTS), Variable Return to Scale (VRS), Scale Efficiency (SE) and Return to Scale RTS) models mean scores of 84.44%, 84.44%, 91.48%, 84.74%, and 100%, respectively. Conclusively, it could be stated that indigenous breeds of Sokoto gudali and Rahaji were the main bulls used for fattening in the State, and a mixture of crop residues and conventional feeds was the popular plane of feeding stock, with most farms utilising resources efficiently. Stemming from the findings, soft credit facilities to accord fatteners afford initial off-setting cost of bulls and frequent extension services to same, for modernisation of beef cattle feedlot system are highly recommended.

Estimation of technical efficiency of cattle feedlot system in Adamawa State, Nigeria: Comparison among estimators

This study adopts an output oriented Shephard Distance Function (SDF) to estimate Technical Efficiency (TE) in cattle feedlot under five distinct estimators (Data Envelopment Analysis /DEA/, Free Disposal Hull /FDH/, Order-m, Order-α and Bootstrap). The aim is to rank the efficiency estimates based on descending order of the TE estimates from the five estimators and test the hypotheses of mean difference across the estimators. In addition, the independent variables used in the feedlot system were also ranked based on magnitude to total cost. Results show initial cost of animal, feed cost, water cost, labour cost, depreciation, medicaments and cost of salt lick are ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, respectively, in terms of proportion to total cost. The study found a combination of inappropriate scale of production and managerial problems as the causes of inefficiency in the cattle feedlot. The study advocates for proper pricing of inputs, commensurate and timely utilization of inputs to avert input waste. Similarly, the study recommends up-scaling (178 cattle feedlot) and down-scaling (92 cattle feedlot) the cattle feedlot production owing to their operation at increasing and decreasing returns to scale, respectively, to attain enhanced efficiency.