Confinement housing of beef cattle is becoming more common due to increased environmental concerns and the desire to capture potential efficiencies in cattle performance and manure value. Deep pit facilities with slatted floors are being built, however one of the disadvantages may be the negative effect on feet and legs health, resulting in performance consequences for cattle housed on concrete slats for extended periods of time. Rubber mats designed to be installed over the concrete slats are being used to increase cattle comfort. No comparable data has been gathered in typical U.S feeding situations to measure potential benefit of these mats. This investigation is attempting to gather data to determine potential performance advantages of the mats.
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