A34-Unc*ster Fanning, Saturday, November 11, 2000
Bovine Welfare Forum
(Continued from Pago A2l)
deaths in feedlot can be attribu
ted to dust pneumonia,” Dr.
Morrow-Tesch said. “The level
of dust on feedlots can be high,
which springs the cattle’s
immune system into action and
keeps it running on a constant
basis.”
Her research found that dust
levels can be reduced by a simple
change in feeding time. By
nature, cattle want to eat at
sunset. When the sun goes down
and their feed bunk is empty,
cattle find other methods of en
tertainment. In other words,
they frolic in the pens and kick
up dirt and manure. For practi
cal reasons, nature
and teed lot practices
have not always coin- I ‘ ,
cided. I s
The alarm rings
early for feed
callers, with the
first feeding done
well before sunrise.
When the clock
strikes two in the
afternoon, the
workers have dis
tributed the final
ration and are
ready to go home.
Dr. Morrow-Tesch
experimented with
feeding times
during her three
year-long study,
taking away one
mid-day feeding
and adding one at
the day’s end. “If
feed remained in
their bunk at
sunset, cattle ate
and then rested,”
she noted. “Not
only did their be
havior change, but
dust levels were
also reduced.”
In a second study
in Lubbock, Texas,
Dr. Morrow-Tesch
used PVC pipe and
cloth to give cattle
access to shade, an
unusual feature for
most feedlots. The
cattle reached their
target weights 20
days sooner than
did cattle without
shade a substan
tial savings to the
producer, and a
definite improve
ment in animal wel
fare.
“The cattle with
shade showed fewer
signs of stress.
Their body tem
perature and respi
ratory rates were
lower,” Dr. Mor
row-Tesch said.
“When cattle are
hot, they pant and
drool; they go off
feed. They’re ex
pending a lot of un
necessary energy.”
More scientific
research is needed
to develop im
proved animal wel
fare guidelines.
And some research
efforts have sur
prisingly disproven
popular theories.
For instance, in a
study by ARS,
calves exhibited
signs of pain after
tail docking, while
adults showed little
response. An ani
mal’s mind, Dr.
Morro w-T esch
says, is like a big
black box. We have
stand how an animal responds,
what creates a fearful situation,
and how their environment
might be perceived.
“The most important issue in
animal welfare today is human
animal interaction,” Dr. Mor
row-Tesch explained. “How we
treat our animals can make all
the difference in the world to
them. Cattle, like most animals,
seem to remember good as well
as unfavorable incidents and act
accordingly,” As Dr. Smith sees
it, “Cattle serve all of us and de
serve humane treatment. We
need to put our best foot for
ward.”
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third payment of $2O per head
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