Stress is increased with wet, muddy conditions or when pens are too dry and dusty.
Strategic pen management can help minimize these problems.
Mud
Chris Reinhardt, extension feedlot specialist at Kansas State University, says the most obvious time animal comfort and performance is affected is when pens are muddy. Mud can also predispose animals to foot rot.
“If water (or mud) is excessive, cattle tend to move less; they try to find the most comfortable place and remain there. If they eat and drink less because they aren’t moving around, they perform at a lower level,” he says.
“It has been estimated that 4 to 8 inches of mud in a pen can decrease feed intake by 8 to 15 percent, reduce daily gain by 14 percent and increase feed conversion by 13 percent,” he adds.
“Severely muddy conditions (12-inch to 24-inch deep mud) may reduce intake by as much as 30 percent and reduce daily gain and increase feed conversion by 25 percent. Steers that might normally gain 3 pounds per day may gain only 2.25 pounds on days when pens are muddy. That means for every four days of mud, cattle will require one additional day to reach finish weight,” he explains.
Preventing muddy conditions by creating mounds for cattle can be helpful. If there is adequate slope for drainage and sufficient space for cattle to spread out, well-designed mounds can help ensure good performance, even during wet weather.
“Draining standing water and scraping away excess mud will allow cattle to move more freely between the bunk pad, water tank and the mound,” says Reinhardt.
After a heavy rain or snow, he recommends making at least one pass through each pen with a box scraper.
Cattle that have been standing in one place for several hours during a storm will follow the box scraper and lie down in the drier area behind it, indicating they’ve become exhausted by standing so long.
After a group of finished cattle have been taken out of a pen, it is important to rework the pen surface before admitting new cattle.
“If a previously used pen isn’t smoothed and the mounds rebuilt, cattle performance could be adversely affected right from the beginning of the feeding period,” he says.
During the cleaning process, it is important to rebuild the mounds and re-work the mound surfaces. “During wet conditions, the mound may be the only location in the pen where cattle can lie down and rest, and resting is when they perform best.
Without rest, cattle are burning energy standing and walking, and may be experiencing stress simply because they are unable to rest,” explains Reinhardt.
Dry, dusty conditions
During a hot summer, cattle limit their activity during the heat of the day and then dramatically increase their activity at sundown when it’s cooler.
“This generates a great deal of dust within the pens and across the entire feedyard,” Reinhardt says.
Dusty conditions can cause respiratory irritation that may lead to or exacerbate respiratory disease in new cattle as well as in heavy cattle near finish.
“By periodically scraping the pen surface – once a week or at least monthly – and removing the dry, dusty manure material, the amount of dust generated can be greatly reduced,” he says.
During dry periods, pen surface moisture may diminish to less than 10 percent. Sprinkling can be used to increase the water content of the pen surface to help bind the dust and ammonia.
“In dry climates, sprinkling pens may reduce dust emissions by as much as 18-fold,” Reinhardt says.
He recommends applying a half-gallon of water per day per square yard of pen space or whatever amount it takes to increase the pen moisture content to about 25 percent.
The surface moisture should ideally remain between 25 and 35 percent to minimize dust, yet not be enough to cause odor problems.
“When sprinkling, avoid shaded areas, and don’t sprinkle under bunks or fencelines because excess moisture can accumulate in these spots and create odor or fly problems,” he says.
Another way to increase pen moisture if water supplies are too short for sprinkling is to simply increase cattle density in the pen.
“This can reduce or eliminate the need for sprinkling. In arid climates, studies have shown that cattle confined in stocking density rates of 70 to 80 square feet per head will excrete sufficient urine and manure to maintain ideal pen moisture content.
This goal may be accomplished using portable fencing,” Reinhardt explains. 
Heather Smith Thomas is a freelance writer based in Idaho.
PHOTO
With adequate slope and drainage, well-designed mounds on a feedlot can help ensure good performance. Photo courtesy of Chris Reinhardt.
Pay special attention to hospital pens and receiving pens
Even though pen maintenance is crucial for the main pens during both wet and dry conditions, it is even more important for hospital and receiving pens.
Guidelines for mound construction
“These should have top priority,” Chris Reinhardt says. “If we want our health program to be effective, we need to provide a relatively low-stress and comfortable environment so that stressed and sick cattle can respond immunologically.”
Pen soil can be mounded up to provide a high, dry comfortable area for cattle to get up out of the mud. During any prolonged wet period, cattle tend to congregate on mounds.
Proper slope and adequate area are important for optimum benefit to ensure adequate return from the investment of creating mounds. Chris Reinhardt gives these guidelines for constructing and maintaining feedlot mounds:
- Construct the mound parallel to the general slope of the pen to avoid blocking the flow of natural water drainage.
- The mound should have a 3 to 4 percent slope from front to back for adequate drainage.
- If possible, situate the mound lengthwise perpendicular to the direction of prevailing winter winds (if wind comes from the northwest, mounds should run from northeast to southwest).
This recommendation is secondary to making sure mounds do not interfere with moisture drainage. - Position the mound so that the end closest to the bunk actually joins the pad or apron adjacent to the bunk and water tank so cattle can move freely between the relatively dry areas of mound, water tank and feedbunk.
If they have to cross mud to reach feed, water or resting areas, they will cross less frequently, resulting in stress, restlessness, reduced feed intake and potential overeating. - The mound should have 20 to 25 square feet of surface area per side. Cattle will use the mound to get out of mud and also as a windbreak, and will alternate sides depending on wind direction, temperature and sun exposure.
- Use soil that is high in clay content to ensure stability when building a mound. Limestone may be incorporated with the soil to reduce water retention.
- Avoid use of manure and pen scrapings to create mounds; this material has lower density and higher water-holding capacity.
- When constructing mounds, use heavy equipment to pack layers of soil 8 to 12 inches thick.
- Final mound height should be 5 to 8 feet above the main pen surface. The mound will settle and flatten over time.
- Sides should have a slope of four-to-one or five-to-one to allow rapid drainage while still allowing cattle to rest on the mound.
- The top surface should be crowned, not flat, to improve drainage, and no more than 5 to 10 feet wide.
- After construction, feedyard personnel should monitor cattle use of mounds for ongoing improvement in construction and maintenance.
