Vern Anderson
Introduction
Many
Procedures
Steer calves born
and raised at the
Modest bedding was a
minimalist approach to keeping some bedding under the calves during inclement
winter weather and generous bedding was essentially double the amount provided
in the modest bedding treatment. Straw
was added approximately weekly.
During the trial,
calves were observed to have variable amounts of tag or manure attached to
their hide associated with bedding treatment. A five point scoring system was developed to
quantify the amount of tag on the hide and all steers were scored prior to
going to market. The scoring system was
1=no tag, clean hide, 2=small lumps attached to the hide in limited areas of
the legs and underbelly, 3=small and large lumps attached to the hide covering
larger areas of the legs, side and underbelly, 4=small and large lumps of
manure attached to the hide in even larger areas along the hind quarter,
stomach, and front shoulder, and 5=lumps of manure attached to the hide
continuously on the underbelly and side of the animal from brisket to rear
quarter.
Results
Feedlot performance
Dry matter intake
(Table 1) was not affected by bedding treatment (P<0.05). Non-bedded steers fluctuated more in feed intake
but differences balanced out over weigh periods and multiple years (replicates)
of the study. Gains responded significantly (P<0.05) in two of the four month-long
weigh periods and overall. Generously
bedded steers gained 3.53 lbs. per day, modestly bedded steers gained 3.69, and
steers without bedding gained 2.83. Gain
per lb. of feed improved significantly (P=0.06) in one period and tended to improve
overall for bedded steers (P=0.09).
Animal Tag
The least amount of
tag was attached to the generously-bedded animals (1.58 tag score), more tag on
the modestly bedded animals (2.64 tag score), and much more (3.75 tag score)
associated with no bedding. The excessive tag on the non-bedded calves added to
their discomfort by reducing any protection dry hair on a clean hide provides. Calves in this group were observed to be stiff
and slow to get up. Individual steer
weights used for calculating average daily gains included manure tags attached
to the hide which may have inflated gains slightly.
Carcass Quality
Most carcass quality
traits (Table 2) were also positively affected by bedding (P<.05). Final weight was greater for both bedded
treatments at 1182 and 1172 lbs. versus 1121 for steers with no bedding. Carcass weight and dressing percent improved
with bedding, again affected by the weight of manure tag on the non-bedded
calves. Marbling scores, the indicator
for carcass quality grade, improved with bedding as did the percent of
carcasses grading choice. Twenty three percent of carcasses from steers without bedding graded choice, versus 45% and 63% for
bedded steers. Rib eye area tended to
increase (P=0.06) with bedding from 11.47 square inches to 12.09, and 11.99 for
normal and extra bedding, respectively. Yield
grade, fat thickness over the 12th rib, and internal fat (kidney, pelvic,
heart fat (KPH)) were not affected by bedding. Steers with no bedding may have improved in
carcass quality with another 50 pounds of gain which would have taken several
more days on feed.
Economics of Bedding
Cost for bedding was
$5.77 per head for modestly bedded steers and $10.15 for generously bedded
steers. If steers are sold on a realtime grid using $1.20/cwt for carcass weight for choice
cattle and $1.10 for select cattle, the advantage for bedding is $61.76 for
modest bedding and $81.61 for generous bedding (Table 3).
Table 1. Effect of bedding on feed intake, gain, and feed
efficiency for steers finished in
|
|
Treatment |
|
|
||
|
Item |
No bedding |
Modest bedding |
Generous bedding |
Std Error |
P value |
|
Number of head |
34 |
35 |
35 |
|
|
|
Initial wt, lb |
725 |
726 |
727 |
12.2 |
0.85 |
|
Dry matter intake,
lb/hd/d |
21.99 |
21.96 |
22.16 |
1.56 |
0.99 |
|
Avg daily gain lb** |
2.83 |
3.69 |
3.53 |
0.06 |
0.01 |
|
Gain/feed |
0.131 |
0.172 |
0.161 |
0.01 |
0.09 |
**Actual weight gains may be
lower than reported due to higher levels of manure tags on the steers in the no bedding treatment.
Table 2. Effect
of bedding on carcass quality for steers finished in
|
|
Treatment |
|
|
||
|
Item |
No bedding |
Modest bedding |
Generous bedding |
Std Error |
P value |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Final weight, lb |
1121 |
1182 |
1172 |
18.41 |
0.02 |
|
Carcass wt, lb |
674 |
715 |
721 |
12.86 |
0.02 |
|
Dressing percent |
61.95 |
62.33 |
63.43 |
0.38 |
0.02 |
|
Marbling score* |
361 |
392 |
415 |
10.89 |
0.01 |
|
Percent Choice |
23 |
45 |
63 |
- |
- |
|
Yield grade** |
2.98 |
3.03 |
3.09 |
0.07 |
0.30 |
|
Fat thickness, in. |
0.39 |
0.43 |
0.46 |
0.03 |
0.13 |
|
Rib eye area, square in. |
11.47 |
12.09 |
11.99 |
0.25 |
0.06 |
|
KPH, % |
2.43 |
2.51 |
2.43 |
0.05 |
0.14 |
* Marbling score is numeric
value based on dispersion of fat inside ribeye muscle,
300-399 = select, 400-499=low choice. Higher
scores = more marbling and higher carcass value
** Yield grade is a measure of
fat to lean ratio, 1=lean, 5=fat.
Table 3. Economic
returns for bedding for finishing steers in
|
|
Treatment |
||
|
Item |
No bedding |
Modest
bedding |
Generous
bedding |
|
Avg carcass value for grid prices @ $1.20 for
Choice or better and $1.10 for Select, $ |
756.92 |
818.68 |
838.53 |
|
Advantage for bedding, $/hd |
- |
61.76 |
81.61 |