Page 241 - The Welfare of Cattle

218 the WeLfare of CattLe

It is noteworthy that the majority of North American cattle are transported without experiencing
severe welfare issues; however, the potential for the increased risk of suffering is increased during
long haul (> 30 hours) transportation (González et al., 2012). The interplay between pre-transport
management, cattle type (age, breed, condition), and specific transport conditions (i.e., duration,
loading density, weather conditions) on cattle welfare is not yet fully understood and continued
research is required to determine which of these factors alone or in combination have the greatest
welfare impacts.

WeLFare ISSUeS aSSOCIateD WIth the BaCKGrOUNDING FeeDLOt

Backgrounding refers to the first 90–100 days in the feedlot after calves or yearlings have
arrived. During this period cattle are fed high-forage/low-grain rations with the goal of maximizing
growth and minimizing fat deposition. Welfare issues specific to the backgrounding phase will be
discussed below.

arrival Processing

All calves and yearlings that enter the backgrounding feedlot undergo initial processing which
may include vaccination and or revaccination, growth implants, identification with an ear tag or
tags, performing castration or dehorning on those calves that were not done on the ranch; or in the
case of castration, had not been done correctly and either one or both of the testicles are still pres-
ent. It should be emphasized that castration and dehorning are more invasive at this time due to
the removal of larger and more developed testes and horns increasing tissue trauma, risk of infec-
tion, blood loss and death potential (Schwartzkopf-Genswein et al., 2012a). Calves can be further
handled during arrival processing when allotting them to home pens to achieve the desired number
of head per pen or more uniform groups.
Although many feedlots choose not to place a new brand on cattle entering the feedlot, branding
remains common in custom feedlots where cattle are fed for multiple owners and some cattle may
require a brand for export purposes. Many lending institutions still require that cattle purchased
with their money bear their brand. It is becoming more common for feedlot managers to refrain
from removing horns when calves come into the feedlot due to increased labor (and now required
pain control) and negative effects on growth performance.

the high-risk Calf and BrD

Although there are numerous health issues that can afflict cattle entering and being reared in a
backgrounding feedlot, it is beyond the scope of this chapter to cover all of them in detail. Instead,
this section will focus on the major health and welfare problem occurring in this phase of feedlot
production which is BRD—a leading cause of morbidity (70%–80%) and mortality (40%–50%)
(Edwards, 2010) with a cost of approximately 2 billion dollars annually (Powell, 2013). Clinical
symptoms of BRD include fever (>104°F) depression, reduced body condition, nasal/oral/ ocular
discharge, coughing, and lack of rumen fill or lack of appetite (Urban-Chmiel and Groom, 2012).
Comprehensive reviews related to this topic have been published (Duff and Galyean, 2007;
Edwards, 2010; Wilson et al., 2017).
The main risk factors for BRD include: being young (≤4 months of age), not vaccinated, recently
weaned, castrated or dehorned, transported long distances, exposed to sudden or extreme changes in
weather and commingled with calves from multiple locations (i.e., auction versus ranch), exposure
to a new diet and a novel environment including pens, waterers, and feed bunks (Wilson et al., 2017).
Most of these risks can be attributed to lack of preconditioning management; however, the added