The effect of floor type on the performance, welfare and preference behaviour of housed beef cattle

The effect of concrete slats (CS) and rubber covered slats (RM) on i) animal performance, behaviour, hoof wear, dirt scores, physiological response and carcass traits of ‘finishing’ beef steers (Experiment 1), and ii) performance, hoof health and dirt scores of suckler-bred weanling cattle undergoing a ‘backgrounding’ period (Experiment 2) were investigated in Chapter 3. The principle findings were that finishing steers accommodated on RM had greater (P < 0.05) average daily live-weight gain (ADG) (1.15 v. 0.98 kg (SEM; 0.03)), carcass weight (414 v. 403 kg) and superior feed conversion ratio (FCR) (10.6 vs. 12.4 kg DMI/ kg live-weight gain (SEM; 0.15)) compared to those on CS. Additionally steers on RM lay down for longer, had more frequent getting up and lying down movements, lying and standing bouts (P < 0.05). However, growth, feed efficiency, cleanliness scores and hoof health of weanling cattle were not affected by the addition of RM to CS. Chapter 4 examined the preference and associated behaviours of finishing beef cattle for different floor types in two consecutive experiments. In Experiment 1 steers had free choice between i) CS or ii) RM (Durapak Agri Ltd., Ballincollig, Co. Cork, Ireland); and in Experiment. 2 i) RM (Durapak Agri Ltd., Ballincollig, Co. Cork, Ireland) or ii) concrete slats overlaid with straw (Straw). It was reported that steers preferred the RM floor type, compared to CS where steer preference for RM was clearly driven by the desire to lie down. In Experiment. 2, steers preferred the straw floor type compared to RM, which again, was primarily driven by lying comfort. It can be concluded that steers’ preference for a floor type was expressed by their desire for comfort while lying down. Collectively these findings suggest that finishing steers accommodated on RM have enhanced growth and feed efficiency, exhibiting lying behaviour indicative of improved comfort compared to steers on CS however, growth, feed efficiency, cleanliness scores and hoof health of weanling cattle were not affected by the addition of RM to CS. The comfort while lying down was the main feature determining the preferences of steers for a particular floor type while comfort when standing and resistance to slipping were also important.