Beef cattle welfare assessment: use of resource and animal-based indicators, blood parameters and hair 20β-dihydrocortisol

Figures & data

Table 1. Fattening diets composition as percentage of Dry Matter and energy concentration.

Farm	DM (%)	Ash (% DM)	CP (% DM)	EE (% DM)	NDF (% DM)	ADF (% DM)	Energy (Meat FU)
A	72.9	6.9	12.5	2.4	26.3	14.9	0.9
B	76.4	5.8	15.7	4.0	25.7	13.9	0.9
C	72.9	6.2	16.5	2.4	28.8	14.4	0.8
D	86.8	8.2	13.6	4.7	29.2	12.8	1.0

DM: Dry Matter; CP: Crude Protein; EE: Ether Extract; NDF: Neutral Detergent Fibre; ADF: Acid Detergent Fibre; Meat FU: Meat Forage Unit.

Farm A: Piemontese breed bulls reared in tie stall housing system; Farm B: Piemontese breed bulls reared in group-pen; Farm C: Blonde d’Aquitaine breed bulls reared in group-pen; Farm D: Cross-breed (from Ireland) reared in group-pen.

Figure 1. RIBECA scoring system in the four farms. A: Piemontese breed bulls reared in tie stall housing system; B: Piemontese breed bulls reared in group-pen; C: Blonde d’Aquitaine breed bulls reared in group-pen; D: Cross-breed (from Ireland) reared in group-pen.

Table 2. Main critical animal based measures of the beef cattle from the four farms.

	Farm A: Piemontese tied	Farm B: Piemontese group – pen	Farm C: Blonde d’Aquitaine	Farm D: Cattle crossbreeds
Ocular discharge (% of animals)	19%	13%	7%	17%
Coughing (% of animals)	6%	6%	7%	9%
Nasal discharge (% of animals)	–	–	–	4%
Injuries	–	–	3	–
Avoidance test^a	<50 cm	<50 cm	<50 cm	>100 cm
Temperament	Normal	Hyperactive	Hyperactive	Frightened

^a Avoidance test.

The operator took up a position at a distance of 3 m from the feed bunk and started to approach the animal from the front when the animal observed him. The operator approached the animal at a speed of 50–60cm (one step) per second with his arm raised, forming a 45◦ angle from the body, fingertips directed to the ground and the back of the hand towards the animal. When the animal turned his head by 90◦ or stepped back, the distance between the hand of the experimenter and the nose of the animal was measured.

Table 3. Haematological and biochemical parameters of the beef cattle from the four farms.

	Farm A: Piemontese tied	Farm B: Piemontese pen	Farm C: Blonde d’aquitaine	Farm D: cattle crossbreeds	p-value
dROMs UCARR	76.79 ± 5.39^a	57.42 ± 5.60^b	37.14 ± 5.85^c	69.76 ± 5.84^ab	<.001
WBC x10^3 cells/uL	7.98 ± 0.37^a	6.53 ± 0.38^b	9.15 ± 0.41^c	10.33 ± 0.41^d	<.001
%NEU	31.24 ± 1.76^a	36.64 ± 1.83^b	29.51 ± 1.95^a	42.06 ± 1.94^c	<.001
%LYM	58.47 ± 1.68^ab	54.08 ± 1.75^bc	62.90 ± 1.86^a	50.83 ± 1.86^c	<.001
%MONO	3.81 ± 0.35	4.30 ± 0.36	5.07 ± 0.38	4.36 ± 0.38	.125
%EOS	5.08 ± 0.46^a	3.55 ± 0.47^b	1.85 ± 0.50^c	1.74 ± 0.50^c	<.001
%BASO	1.05 ± 0.07	0.92 ± 0.07	1.02 ± 0.08	1.06 ± 0.08	.520
NEUT x10^3 cells/uL	2.57 ± 0.25^c	2.36 ± 0.26^c	2.76 ± 0.28^bc	4.42 ± 0.28^a	<.001
LYM x10^3 cells/uL	4.59 ± 0.21^b	3.56 ± 0.21^c	5.64 ± 0.23^ab	5.15 ± 0.23^a	<.001
N/L RATIO	0.57 ± 0.06^bc	0.72 ± 0.06^b	0.52 ± 0.07^c	0.96 ± 0.07^a	<.001
MONO x10^3 cells/uL	0.29 ± 0.03^b	0.27 ± 0.03^b	0.47 ± 0.04^a	0.44 ± 0.04^a	<.001
EOS x10^3 cells/uL	0.41 ± 0.04^a	0.24 ± 0.04^b	0.15 ± 0.04^b	0.17 ± 0.04^b	<.001
BASO x10^3 cells/uL	0.09 ± 0.01^ab	0.06 ± 0.01^b	0.10 ± 0.01^ab	0.11 ± 0.01^a	.002
RBC x10^6 cells/uL	7.81 ± 0.22^c	8.99 ± 0.23^b	9.77 ± 0.24^a	8.58 ± 0.24^b	<.001
HGB g/dL	11.46 ± 1.07^c	14.45 ± 1.63^a	12.72 ± 1.01^b	13.02 ± 2.12^b	<.001
HCT %	29.92 ± 0.58^c	36.50 ± 0.60^a	34.30 ± 0.64^b	33.68 ± 0.64^b	<.001
PLT x10^3 cells/uL	297.54 ± 23.82^b	360.00 ± 24.30^ab	426.69 ± 25.92^a	334.19 ± 27.66^b	.004
ALBUMIN g/dL	3.39 ± 0.05^c	3.66 ± 0.05^ab	3.75 ± 0.05^a	3.59 ± 0.05^b	<.001
AST IU	111.88 ± 5.07	102.33 ± 5.26	99.74 ± 5.60	110.74 ± 5.59	.291
CHOLESTEROL mg/dL	95.03 ± 3.53^c	165.80 ± 3.71^a	118.64 ± 4.03^b	92.24 ± 3.94^c	<.001
CK mg/dL	506.75 ± 111.87	530.66 ± 117.75	588.49 ± 127.84	612.36 ± 124.93	.918
CREATININE mg/dL	2.16 ± 0.08^b	2.66 ± 0.08^a	2.01 ± 0.09^bc	1.90 ± 0.09^c	<.001
GLUCOSE mg/dL	82.43 ± 5.17^c	149.99 ± 5.44^a	106.85 ± 5.91^b	88.58 ± 5.77^c	<.001
LDH IU	3293.17 ± 158.13^b	3878.01 ± 166.45^a	3621.62 ± 180.70^ab	3197.14 ± 176.60^b	.020
TP g/dL	6.47 ± 0.08^a	6.86 ± 0.08^b	6.62 ± 0.09^a	7.06 ± 0.09^b	<.001
TG mg/dL	13.56 ± 0.86^b	9.74 ± 0.90^a	16.53 ± 0.98^c	13.88 ± 0.96^bc	<.001

WBC: White Blood Cells; LYM: Lymphocytes; MONO: Monocytes; NEU: Neutrophils; EOS: Eosinophils; BASO: Basophils; RBC: Red Blood Cells; HCT: Haematocrit; HGB: Haemoglobin; PLT: Platelets; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; CK: Creatine kinase; TP: Total Proteins; TG: Triglycerides; ns: not-significant. Means with superscript letters (a, b, c) denote significant differences among the farms.

Figure 2. 20β-dihydrocortisol concentration in the four farms. Box plots with different superscript letters (a, b) differ significantly (p < 0.05). Farm A: Piemontese breed bulls reared in tie stall housing system; Farm B: Piemontese breed bulls reared in group-pen; Farm C: Blonde d’Aquitaine breed bulls reared in group-pen; Farm D: Cross-breed (from Ireland) reared in group-pen.