Welfare and meat quality of beef cattle housed on two types of floors with the same space allowance

• Main Authors: Giulio Cozzi, Licia Ravarotto, Gianluca Fregolent, Rebecca Ricci, Flaviana Gottardo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2010-01-01
• Series: Italian Journal of Animal Science
• Subjects: Beef cattle, Type of floor, Welfare, Meat quality
• Online Access: http://www.aspajournal.it/index.php/ijas/article/view/179
• ISSN: 1594-4077; 1828-051X

Growth performance, behaviour, cleanliness, carcass traits and meat quality of 48 Simmental young bulls housed on slatted<br />floor or on straw bedding with the same space allowance were compared in the study, which lasted 250 days. The<br />animals (initial body weight = 321.2 &plusmn; 34.1 kg) were assigned to 8 balanced groups, according to their initial body<br />weight. All the groups were reared in separate pens with a space allowance of 3 m2/head. Four pens had a concrete floor<br />covered with a straw bedding while the other pens had a fully slatted floor made of concrete slats. All the animals received<br />the same diet provided ad libitum.<br />Type of floor did not affect the bulls&rsquo; daily gain, feed intake and feed efficiency. Health status of the animals was satisfactory<br />throughout the trial and several blood indicators of chronic stress were not modified by the treatment. Behavioural<br />observations carried out at d 10, 80, 180 and 240 showed differences only on some behaviours due to the type of floor.<br />In particular, the straw bedding increased eating behaviour and it encouraged the simultaneous presence of more bulls<br />at the manger. Regardless of the type of floor, the progress of the trial showed a linear increase of animals&rsquo; inactivity<br />(P<0.05) while linear decrease of bulls&rsquo; lying (P<0.01), eating (P<0.001) and ruminating (P<0.01) was observed. These<br />results can be referred to the growth of the animal body frame, which made the space allowance progressively limiting.<br />In the straw bedded pens, clean straw was added weekly and fully renewed every 3 weeks, but this bedding management<br />did not allow a satisfactory cleanliness of the animals in comparison with the slatted floor. However, the worse<br />cleanliness of the bulls on the straw did not promote their grooming activity. Young bulls were slaughtered at a final<br />weight of 614.6 &plusmn; 14.7 kg and their carcass traits and meat quality were not affected by the treatment.<br />The straw bedded system cannot always be considered the cleanest solution for the housing of beef cattle and its frequent<br />renewal must be carried out, particularly when animals are kept with a minimum space allowance. The minimal<br />differences observed for all the parameters measured in the study between the two types of floors must be related to<br />the adoption of the same space allowance/animal and this factor has shown to be the most critical housing parameter<br />affecting beef cattle welfare during the fattening period.