The effects of rubber matting and a novel gait analysis on growth performance and mobility of cattle in indoor feeding facilities

The objective for Chapter 2 was to determine effects of old and new rubber matting in a slatted, indoor cattle feeding facility on cattle growth performance, locomotion, and carcass characteristics. In experiment 1, fall-born Angus × Simmental steers (N = 207; BW = 222 ± 38 kg) were blocked by weight and assigned to 32 pens. Pens were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: no matting/concrete (CONC1), 12-year-old Animat Pebble matting (OLD1), new Animat Maxgrip matting (MG), and new Animat Pebble matting (PEB1). Steers were fed a common diet for 209 d with a minimum stocking density of 3.40 m2 per animal. Final body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) were affected (P ≤ 0.02) by treatment with steers on PEB1 finishing heaviest with the greatest growth, MG and CONC1 intermediate, and OLD1 finishing at the lightest final BW with the least growth. Flooring treatment did not affect overall dry matter intake (DMI, P = 0.16) or gain to feed ratio (G:F, P = 0.94). Flooring treatment did not affect (P ≥ 0.19) any carcass traits. Locomotion scores (LS) were affected (P < 0.01) by flooring treatment with CONC1 having the worst mobility while OLD1, MG, and PEB1 were similar (P ≥ 0.24). Locomotion score had a day effect (P < 0.01) where cattle gait and mobility worsened as days on feed increased. In experiment 2, fall-born Angus × Simmental steers (N = 189; BW = 352 ± 43 kg) were blocked by weight and assigned to 21 pens. Pens were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: no matting/concrete (CONC2), 15-year-old Animat Pebble matting (OLD2), and new Animat Pebble matting (PEB2). Steers were fed a common diet for 112 d with a stocking density of 2.65 m2 per steer. After 112 days on feed, flooring treatment did not affect (P ≥ 0.30) BW, ADG, or DMI nor did treatment affect (P ≥ 0.17) carcass traits. However, steers housed on OLD2 or PEB2 had improved locomotion scores (P = 0.02) compared to steers housed on CONC2. Locomotion score had a day effect (P < 0.01) as cattle gait and mobility worsened with greater number of days on feed, regardless of treatment. Overall, results suggest new rubber matting increased ADG and HCW during a 209 d trial when cattle were stocked at 3.4 m2 and that rubber matting regardless of age improved cattle locomotion scores in slatted indoor feeding facilities. The objective for Chapter 3 was to determine the variance of locomotion score (LS) and growth performance attributable to flooring treatment, hind leg angle and step length (SL) measured by 3-D image analysis for cattle in slatted feeding facilities. Inherent individual differences in structural conformation may be related to cattle mobility and growth performance in indoor slatted facilities. Angus × Simmental steers (N = 189; BW = 352 ± 43 kg) were blocked by initial BW and assigned to 21 pens. Pens were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments (TRT): concrete slats with no matting (CONC), 15-year-old Animat Pebble matting (OLD), and new Animat Pebble matting (PEB). Steers were fed for 152 days. Individual steers videos were recorded on d 0 using an Intel RealSense depth camera and processed using MATLAB to estimate hind leg angle, SL, and body length (BL). Locomotion scores were assigned using a 0 to 3 scale (Zinpro Step-Up® Locomotion Scoring System) throughout the finishing phase. The CORR procedure of SAS 9.4 was utilized to measure correlation of structural conformation traits to average LS, overall ADG, and final BW. Average LS had the greatest correlated (r = -0.23) to SL/BL during the finishing phase. The greatest correlation (r = -0.49) to overall ADG was average LS. Final BW had the strongest correlation (r = 0.51) to BL. The MIVQUE0 option of the MIXED procedure of SAS 9.4 was utilized to estimate the proportion of variance in average LS, overall ADG, and final BW. Variance of average LS was attributed to SL and SL × BL × TRT at 64% and 28%, respectively. For overall ADG, variance was attributable to SL × BL, SL × BL × TRT, and TRT at 38%, 35%, and 25%, respectively. Variables of SL, BL, SL × BL × TRT, and TRT accounted for 38%, 23%, 23%, and 15% of the variance in final BW, respectively. Overall, variance of average LS, overall ADG, and final BW were primarily attributed to SL, BL, TRT, and their interactions. Individual animal differences in structural conformation are related to cattle mobility and growth performance in slatted indoor facilities.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Animal Sciences

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Dawson, Cody Ryan

Contributors dc:contributor

• McCann, Joshua C
• Shike, Daniel W
• Condotta, Isabella C. F. S.

• Animal sciences

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2021 Cody Dawson

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113930

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F113930