Data on Gastrointestinal and Claw Disorders as Possible Predictive Factors in Beef Cattle and Veal Calves’ Health and Welfare

Luisa Magrin, Barbara Contiero, Giulio Cozzi and Flaviana Gottardo
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Luisa Magrin: Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Barbara Contiero: Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Giulio Cozzi: Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Flaviana Gottardo: Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, Italy

Data, 2022, vol. 7, issue 4, 1-7

Abstract: Today, consumers have a growing concern about the welfare of beef cattle, and specific schemes have been proposed to assess their wellbeing during the fattening. On-farm assessments can be integrated and partially replaced by animal-based measures recorded postmortem at the abattoir. Postmortem organ inspection data are of value, as several lesions can be reflective of subclinical diseases not easily detected in the live animal. The present data collection aimed to evaluate the slaughterhouse prevalence and location of hoof, gastric, hepatic, and liver lesions in beef cattle and veal calves and retrospectively associated this information with the animals’ housing and feeding management systems. Individual data on gastrointestinal and claw disorders of beef cattle (bulls and heifers) and veal calves were collected through a postmortem inspection by trained veterinarians directly at the slaughter line. Around 15 animals/batch, belonging to 97 batches of young bulls, 56 batches of beef heifers, and 41 batches of veal calves were inspected in three slaughterhouses located in Northern Italy during 30 sampling days, and information on the animals’ rearing systems were gathered a posteriori from farmer interviews. The implementation of this recording system should promote a continuous improvement of beef cattle management from a health and welfare perspective.

Keywords: beef cattle; veal calves; claw disorders; gastrointestinal disorders; intensive fattening system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C8 C80 C81 C82 C83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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