Fed Cattle Are Getting Bigger and Have More Lameness and Heart Problems

Fed cattle are getting larger and larger. They are getting back bruises when they are unloaded from the bottom compartment of a semi. They are hitting their backs on the upper deck. At the packing plant, there are also increasing problems with huge fed steers getting stuck in a standard 30-inch-wide chute. My opinion is that they are just too big. Breeding for heavier weights at a younger age and a large ribeye has also contributed to increased problems with both lameness and congestive heart failure.

A recent survey conducted by Lily Edwards-Callaway and her students at Colorado State University indicated that 8% of fed cattle were lame. Some of this problem may be due to hoof abnormalities where the claws are crossed (corkscrew claw). This is definitely a genetic condition. At one plant, 32% of the fed steers and heifers were lame. This is an example of what I call “bad becoming normal.” The problem increased so slowly that people did not notice it.

I have observed that in some parts of North America, the problem is worse than in other regions. Beef on dairy (Holstein x Angus) cattle are becoming very popular. Some of these cattle have very poor hoof and leg conformation. Reports from the field indicate that it may be related to breeding for high-weaning weights.

Recently, I visited a bull stud that ships semen all around the world. There were a variety of breeds ranging from Holstein dairy bulls to Bos indicus (Brahman type) bulls from South America. I was dismayed to observe that one of the Bos indicus bulls had poor hoof conformation. The owner of the bull may have only looked at his production traits and may not have noticed his bad feet. The breeders of Bos indicus may be repeating the same mistakes.

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE INCREASING. Ten or 15 years ago, congestive heart failure in cattle was called high-altitude sickness. It only occurred at high altitudes over 10,000 feet. Today, it is occurring at much lower altitudes. Like the hoof issues, it is a problem that has slowly become worse.

About 10 years ago, fed cattle started having late-in-the-feeding period deads. When the animals were necropsied, they had swollen hearts. A feedlot that specializes in beef or dairy has traced late-stage deads back to a single Angus sire. Researchers in Idaho examined hearts at the slaughter plant. Thirty-four percent had signs of heart swelling, and 4% were in late-stage heart failure. Pictorial scoring tools for assessing heart swelling can be easily found by typing cattle congestive heart failure into Google. I also have a new paper with lots of references in the journal “Animals.” It is titled “Problems with Congestive Heart Failure and Lameness that have Increased in Grain Fed Steers and Heifers.”

The bright side in the beef industry is that cattle handling has become really good. When there is a handling issue at a fed beef plant, it is likely to be caused by factors outside the plant. Lame cattle are going to be more difficult to handle.