Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
J Anim Sci. 2022 Mar 1;100(3). doi: 10.1093/jas/skac041.
The objective 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; body weight = 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-yr-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 and P < 0.01, respectively) 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-yr-old Animat Pebble matting (OLD2), and new Animat Pebble matting (PEB2). Steers were fed a common diet for 152 d with a stocking density of 2.65 m2 per steer. After 152 d 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 with 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 that new rubber matting increased ADG and HCW during a 209-d trial when cattle were stocked at 3.4 m2 in small pens and that rubber matting regardless of age improved cattle locomotion scores in slatted indoor feeding facilities.
目的是确定在有格栅的室内牛饲养设施中使用新旧橡胶垫对牛生长性能、运动和胴体特性的影响。在实验 1 中，秋季出生的安格斯×西门塔尔公牛（N = 207；体重 = 222 ± 38 kg）按体重分为块并分配到 32 个围栏中。围栏随机分配到 4 种处理中的 1 种：无垫料/混凝土（CONC1）、12 岁的 Animat 卵石垫料（OLD1）、新的 Animat Maxgrip 垫料（MG）和新的 Animat 卵石垫料（PEB1）。在 209 天内，牛以常见的日粮饲养，最低饲养密度为每头牛 3.40 m2。最终体重（BW）和平均日增重（ADG）受处理影响（P = 0.02 和 P < 0.01），PEB1 组牛的终重最重，生长最快，MG 和 CONC1 组次之，OLD1 组的终重最轻，生长最慢。地面处理不影响（P = 0.16）总干物质摄入量（DMI）或增重与饲料比（G：F；P = 0.94）。地面处理不影响（P ≥ 0.19）任何胴体性状。运动评分（LS）受地面处理影响（P < 0.01），CONC1 的移动性最差，而 OLD1、MG 和 PEB1 的移动性相似（P ≥ 0.24）。运动评分具有日效应（P < 0.01），随着饲养天数的增加，牛的步态和活动能力恶化。在实验 2 中，秋季出生的安格斯×西门塔尔公牛（N = 189；BW = 352 ± 43 kg）按体重分为块并分配到 21 个围栏中。围栏随机分配到 3 种处理中的 1 种：无垫料/混凝土（CONC2）、15 岁的 Animat 卵石垫料（OLD2）和新的 Animat 卵石垫料（PEB2）。在 152 天的饲养期间，牛以常见的日粮饲养，每头牛的饲养密度为 2.65 m2。152 天的饲养后，地面处理不影响（P ≥ 0.30）BW、ADG 或 DMI，处理也不影响（P ≥ 0.17）胴体性状。然而，与 CONC2 相比，饲养在 OLD2 或 PEB2 上的牛的运动评分提高（P = 0.02）。运动评分具有日效应（P < 0.01），因为随着饲养天数的增加，牛的步态和活动能力恶化，而不管处理如何。总体而言，结果表明，当牛以 3.4 m2 的密度饲养在小围栏中时，新的橡胶垫料在 209 天的试验中提高了 ADG 和 HCW，并且无论年龄大小，橡胶垫料都提高了有格栅的室内饲养设施中牛的运动评分。
