Beef Quality Assurance Avoiding bruises Quick Tips on Handling & Facilities

1. Beef Quality AssuranceAvoiding bruisesQuick Tips on Handling & Facilities

2. Top ten quality challenges to the industry of Audit • “Too frequent and severe bruises” • Bruises affect the value of not only carcasses, but also byproducts • “Bruising from improper cattle handling costs the industry over $250 million annually in carcass trim at the time of processing” (NCBA, 2000). • Cattle are responsible for about two-thirds of all human injuries caused by farm animals. (Hunkle, Hubert, & Harp, 1997).

3. Fed Cattle

4. Fed Cattle

5. Bulls Bruising Severity Frequency Distribution% Cows All Cattle 1999 - 11.8% No Bruises 2007 - 36.6% No Bruises

6. Frequency Distribution Bruising %

7. What can cause bruises? • Loin bruises • Narrow gates, horns • Gates hitting the side of the animal • Protruding gate latches, boards, and sharp edges • Shoulder Bruises • Rough handling • Presence of horns • Broken flipper gates in runways • Protruding gate latches, boards, and sharp edges • Back Bruises • Improperly adjusted one-way gates • Vertical gates hitting the back (should be padded) • Tall cattle hitting their backs when exiting the bottom compartment of a semi-trailer

8. Principles of animal behavior • Cattle vision • Can’t see directly behind them • They will move to lit areas, but not blinding light • Noise • Flight Zone • Use to your advantage, but all animals are different • Natural circling behavior • Curved chute • Natural following behavior • Never take a single animal to load a runway

9. Transporting • Heat and cold stress can make em sick (morbidity) and kill em (mortality) • Starts, stops, and cornering • Rest • Check cattle after first 2 hrs • Check cattle every 4 hrs after that • Density • How many can we fit?

11. Common Reasons for BalkingBeef Cattle Handling and Facility Design, Temple Grandin • Sparkling reflections on puddles • Shadows – reflection often looks like a cattle guard • Reflections on smooth metal • Loose chains that jiggle • Metal clanging • High pitch noise • Air hissing – compressors, etc. • Head on air drafts • Moving plastic • Fan blade movement • People moving • Small objects on floor • Clothing on a fence

12. Common facility corrections Beef Cattle Handling and Facility Design, Temple Grandin • If you use a curve design make sure cattle can see at least 2 body lengths ahead of them – no dead ends • If a back stop is used where cattle load a runway, avoid hanging chains (try a rope to hang the gate that can be released when they go in)

13. Common facility corrections Beef Cattle Handling and Facility Design, Temple Grandin • Crowd pen • gates solid (if panel gates, cover the panels with plywood or something that can’t be seen through – same with crowd pen fence • Gates 12 ft. long – 10 ft min • Keep crowding pen ½ to ¾ full • Fence height • 5 ft. – British breeds • 5.5 – 6ft – Continental or ear breeds

14. Common facility corrections Beef Cattle Handling and Facility Design, Temple Grandin • Squeeze chutes • 555 psi for hydraulic chutes • Loading chutes • 30” wide – works for bulls and cows • 20 degree slope for loading • Runway width – straight sided • 26” wide cows • 18” wide for calves • Straight funnels into runway should be 30 degrees

15. Input/Questions??