Newsletter

Understanding the keys to cattle comfort

02/05/2022

The University of New England (UNE) is currently in the midst of a trial at the University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, to understand the impacts of stocking density on cattle behaviours, including standing and lying.

The trial is part of a project partnership with the Livestock Export Program (LEP), and the latest in a series aimed at understanding the interaction between stocking density, ammonia gas generation and bedding, and how that affects sheep and cattle welfare.

Like the sheep stocking density experiments conducted in early 2021, this trial is designed to observe and record cattle behaviours in a housed environment and analyse the frequency with which the animals display particular behaviours given ample or restricted space.

Using a custom shed, 60 Brahman steers are being housed in groups at three stocking densities (k = 0.027, 0.03 and 0.047) for ten days, simulating a voyage from Australia to South East Asia. These represent the current stocking density under the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (k=0.03), the minimum alternate pen space (k=0.027) and ample space (k=0.047).

The steers were selected from an existing mob and individuals then identified with tags and numbers painted on their sides.

Video cameras above and beside each pen are constantly collecting footage to allow the team to record standing, lying, eating and other behaviours.

The cattle will be fed twice a day to simulate a voyage as closely as possible, with focal animals being used for some faecal, blood and body condition score measurements throughout the trial.

In addition, some animals have been fitted with accelerometers to monitor their movements and the frequency with which they display behaviours such as standing and lying.

The results of this study and others from the Project Partnership will help build a comprehensive picture of how potential stressors during live export affect the physiology and behaviour of livestock.

These findings will also be validated on ships under real-life conditions.

The experiment was designed in conjunction with the Project Partnership working group, which includes exporters, department representatives, and representatives from LiveCorp and Meat & Livestock Australia.