Characterization of Fed Cattle Mobility during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mijares, Sage; Calvo-Lorenzo, Michelle S.; Betts, Nick; Alexander, Lacey; Edwards‐Callaway, Lily N.

doi:10.3390/ani11061749

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Cattle mobility and lameness are important considerations and have been focused on significantly more in recent years within the fed cattle industry, particularly in the United States (Edwards-Callaway and Calvo-Lorenzo, 2020). Mobility is a multifactorial issue impacted by not only weight, THI, sex, and days on feed (DOF; (Gonzaĺez et al, 2012;Edwards-Callaway et al, 2017;Martinez et al, 2021;Mijares et al, 2021), but also transportation (e.g., distance hauled) and lairage factors (e.g., lairage duration; Hagenmaier et al, 2017). One study within this review, however, reported a rather low prevalence of lameness (0.7%; Burgstaller et al, 2022) compared to other studies ranging from as low as 1.1% to 54.8% of cattle reported as clinically lame (Dudley, 2017), likely because the sample size of this study consisted of mostly young bulls and calves rather than older cattle.…”

Section: Health and Injurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the impact of pre-slaughter management factors on indicators of fed beef cattle welfare – a scoping review

Davis¹,

Sullivan²,

Bretón³

et al. 2022

Front. Anim. Sci.

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IntroductionThe impact of pre-slaughter management practices on fed beef cattle welfare is a multifaceted and well researched subject matter. Factors such as transportation, handling, lairage time and several animal characteristics can directly impact the cattle’s behavior, mobility, blood lactate and cortisol levels, likelihood of injury and ultimately overall cattle welfare. Animal welfare continues to grow as a critical component of slaughter in the fed beef industry, yet a formal review of related research does not exist.MethodsA scoping review was performed in order to (1) catalog pre-slaughter management factors that impact fed beef cattle welfare at the time of slaughter, (2) identify indicators used to evaluate the impact of pre-slaughter management on fed beef cattle welfare at slaughter, and (3) gain further understanding of the relationship between pre-slaughter management factors and fed beef cattle welfare outcome indicators at slaughter. Three data bases were ultimately searched: PubMed, CAB Abstracts, and Web of Science. The concepts used in the database searches were the population of interest (i.e., fed beef cattle), the location in the supply chain, preslaughter management factors, and welfare outcomes.ResultsA total of 69 studies were included in final analysis for this review, including studies from six geographic regions around the globe. Studies involving alternative slaughter methods (e.g., religious stunning or mobile slaughter) were not included in the formal analysis of this review, but still merited an in-depth discussion within this paper. After reviewing the studies, a total of 37 pre-slaughter factors and 69 indicators of welfare were measured throughout. Pre-slaughter management factors were then categorized by: animal characteristics; environmental characteristics; handling; lairage; transportation; and water/feed. Outcomeindicators of welfare were categorized into: behaviors; health, injury and disease; physiological; and stunning and insensibility.DiscussionPre-slaughter factors relating to transportation and handling, and welfare outcomes measured by behaviors and physiology were of the most researched throughout the studies.The results of this review offer a catalogue of commonly researched factors and indicators of welfare measured during the pre-slaughter phase, as well ast he relationships between them. This review also offers further substantial evidence that a multitude of events in the pre-slaughter phase affect fed beef cattle welfare and a collection of highly applicable welfare indicators to expedite further research on the effects of pre-slaughter factors and the application of improved practices.

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Section: Health and Injurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the impact of pre-slaughter management factors on indicators of fed beef cattle welfare – a scoping review

Davis¹,

Sullivan²,

Bretón³

et al. 2022

Front. Anim. Sci.

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“…The author has observed in many U.S. beef plants that lameness in beef cattle has increased (Grandin, 2021). A recent survey by Mijares et al, 2021, indicated that 25% of U.S. feedlot cattle were lame. Increased body weight is associated with increased lameness (Marti et al, 2021).…”

Section: 1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bad Becoming Normal is Detrimental to Beef Cattle Welfare

Grandin

2022

J. Appl. Anim. Ethics Res.

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The author has worked in the cattle industry for fifty years. In the 1970’s, cattle handling was terrible and today it has greatly improved. During the last fifteen years, there have been increasing problems with lameness, heat stress, and heart failure in fed beef cattle. These problems slowly increased and people did not notice them until they became really serious. I called this bad becoming normal. The increase is these welfare issues is partially related to increased genetic selection for more muscle and weight gain. Other factors may be muddy pens, a lack of roughage in the ration, heavier cattle at a younger age, or overuse of growth promotants. These practices may overload the animal’s biology and make it dysfunctional. There is a significant minority of producers who push cattle for maximum production, which is detrimental to animal welfare.

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“…In the U.S., the percentage of lame grain-fed cattle has increased. In 2020, only 74.5% of grain-fed beef cattle were free of lameness [13]. These data were collected during the months of July to October on 16,262 fed feedlot cattle that arrived at a large abattoir located in the Central Plains of the U.S.…”

Section: On-farm Factors Associated With Handling Problems At the Abattoirmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This area is in the heart of the U.S. feedlot industry. In the previous years of 2016-2019, 96.19% to 89.32% of the fed feedlot cattle that arrived at an abattoir were free of lameness [13]. There are also some dairies with high percentages of lame cows.…”

Section: On-farm Factors Associated With Handling Problems At the Abattoirmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cattle and Pigs Are Easy to Move and Handle Will Have Less Preslaughter Stress

Grandin

2021

Foods

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Previous research has clearly shown that short-term stresses during the last few minutes before stunning can result in Pale Soft Exudative (PSE) pork in pigs or increased toughness in beef. Electric prods and other aversive handling methods during the last five minutes are associated with poorer meat quality. Handlers are more likely to use aversive methods if livestock constantly stop and are difficult to move into the stun box. Factors both inside and outside the slaughter plant contribute to handling problems. Some in-plant factors are lighting, shadows, seeing motion up ahead, or air movement. Non-slip flooring is also very important for low-stress handling. During the last ten years, there have been increasing problems with on-farm factors that may make animals more difficult to move at the abattoir. Cattle or pigs that are lame or stiff will be more difficult to move and handle. Some of the factors associated with lame cattle are either poor design or lack of adequate bedding in dairy cubicles (free stalls) and housing beef cattle for long periods on concrete floors. Poor leg conformation in both cattle and pigs may also be associated with animals that are reluctant to move. Indiscriminate breeding selection for meat production traits may be related to some of the leg conformation problems. Other on-farm factors that may contribute to handling problems at the abattoir are high doses of beta-agonists or cattle and pigs that have had little contact with people.

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Characterization of Fed Cattle Mobility during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

Investigating the impact of pre-slaughter management factors on indicators of fed beef cattle welfare – a scoping review

Investigating the impact of pre-slaughter management factors on indicators of fed beef cattle welfare – a scoping review

Bad Becoming Normal is Detrimental to Beef Cattle Welfare

Cattle and Pigs Are Easy to Move and Handle Will Have Less Preslaughter Stress

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