Pen conditions could affect whether cattle suffer from rumen acidosis, says Greg Penner, an associate professor of animal science at the University of Saskatchewan.
Acidosis occurs when cattle eat feed that ferments rapidly in the rumen. It is similar to indigestion in humans but can have negative implications on animal performance and health, Penner said.
Associated disorders include liver abscesses, lameness and rumen ulcers.
Recent research has shown that acidosis might not be as prevalent as once thought and that environmental factors play a role along with feeding programs.
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“What our data showed is that we suggested that the prevalence rate increases at the time when the pens are thawing, or where we have increased mud in the pens,” Penner said.
“And then we conducted a second study to look at how mud depth influences risk and feeding behaviour.”
The first study included 30 steers with cannulas so that rumen pH could be measured every five minutes. The steers were mixed with 250 commercial steers and divided into eight pens.
They were fed a 21-day backgrounding diet, followed by a four-step 20-day transition diet and then a final finishing diet of 141 days.
The pH measurements indicated no problems during the backgrounding diet with a prevalence of acidosis at less than 10 percent, Penner said.
The transition diet, where he would have expected problems, also showed no significant prevalence.
There was a small spike about halfway through the finishing phase, and short periods where close to 60 percent of the steers had acidosis.
“Overall, I think it’s pretty good news,” Penner said.
One criticism of the study was that the cannulated steers, those surgically fitted with a porthole-like object that enables researchers to access the rumen, might not respond the same as intact steers.
However, Penner said a review of the liver abscess data found that 11 percent of the cannulated steers and 14 percent of the non-cannulated steers had abscesses, which means the populations appear to be representative.
The second study looked at conditions in eight pens at the Pound-Maker feedlot during the last five weeks of a finishing diet, which also coincided with the spring thaw. Thirty steers in those pens were orally dosed with boluses to measure pH.
Students observed the behaviour of those animals in the large pens every five minutes for a 12-hour period to see where and when they were eating or drinking or if they were idle.
Mud depth in the pen was measured twice a week, which found 10 cm to 18 centimetres during the study.
The study found that the steers went to the feed bunk less often if the mud around it was deeper, but they stayed and ate longer. Dry matter intake and average daily gain were consistent with feedlot expectations, and minimum pH was more than 5.5.
“So, from a classical definition, we don’t have acidosis,” Penner said.
However, he said the risk of changing feeding behaviour that could lead to acidosis is greater as pen conditions worsen.
The studies show that producers should consider factors other than feed when they have animals with digestive disorders, he added.
Penner said research usually focuses on individually housed animals so that the differences can be measured, but feeding behaviour in bunks is significantly different.
Producers who effectively manage feed bunks and environmental conditions can control digestive orders, he added.
