Evaluation of animal health in beef production in relation to housing and feeding systems
The Götala Husbandry Project
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21423/bovine-vol1991no26p57-58Keywords:
Abscesses, Animal housing, beef cattle, beef production, cattle diseases, Cattle housing, diets, disease prevalence, Feed formulation, Foot diseases, Health, Liver diseases, Pneumonia, Respiratory diseasesAbstract
The effects of 2 different housing systems and 2 different feeding regimes on animal health was evaluated during a 3 year period. An insulated building with boxes with slatted floor was compared with an uninsulated building with boxes with straw bedding. Two different feeding regimes were used in both barns: concentrates ad lib and 0.5 kg roughage/calf and hay or grass-silage ad lib and 1 kg concentrates/100 kg live weight daily. There was no significant difference in disease incidence in the 2 housing systems except a higher incidence of interdigital phlegmon in bulls from the uninsulated building with straw bedding. The number of treatments against pneumonia and interdigital phlegmon was lower in the groups of bulls fed silage ad lib. Pneumonic lesions, liver abscesses and reactions in the rumen were more frequent in the groups fed concentrates ad lib in contrast to the silage-fed bulls. It was concluded that the present investigation thus indicates an increased susceptibility to infections of the bulls fed concentrates ad lib.
