Behaviour of fattening bulls
Concrete and rubber floors in comparison

Standing up / laying down

On rubber floors:

In the comparison it becomes apparent that even in high liveweight segments the bulls are not restricted in their species-typical standing up and laying down behaviour.

On concrete floors:

About two-thirds of all standing up and laying down movements are negatively affected, because they are painful on hard surfaces (knee drop test!).

Lying phases

On concrete floors the lying phases are less frequent but longer than on rubber floors. Longer lying times indicate that the animals are avoiding standing up and laying down, due to the pain associated with it.

Preference behaviour

If the pens are partially occupied with animals, it becomes apparent that the fattening bulls prefer the sections covered with rubber. There natural and pain-free laying down and standing up are possible and heat loss through the floor is lower during lying. If the floor is only partially covered, it is recommendable to do it over a larger surface, so that low ranked and weaker animals can also benefit from this.

Mounting

Irregardless of whether this behaviour is desired or not, it is part of natural behavioural patterns and it appears twice as often on rubber floors (8.8 times per animal and day compared to 4.2 times on concrete). This indicates better slip resistance on rubber mats.

Sources:

• Zerbe F., Mayer C., Kjaer J.: Einfluss von Spaltenbodenqualität und Flächenangebot auf das Vorkommen von Verletzungen der Schwanzspitze und am Integument bei Mastbullen [Effect of slatted floor quality and area offers on the occurrence of tail tip injuries and of the integument of fattening bulls]. KTBL-publication 471, S.47ff., 2008
• Bahrs, E.: Verhalten und Gesundheitsstatus von Mastbullen auf Gummispaltenboden [Behaviour and health status of fattening bulls on rubber-covered slatted floors]. Dissertation Universität München, 2005
• Rouha-Mülleder, C.; Absmanner E., Kahrer E., Stanek C., Troxler J.: Beurteilung verschiedener Haltungssysteme für die Rindermast [Assessment of various housing systems for beef fattening]. 15. Freiland-Tagung/ 22. IGN-Tagung in Wien, 2008

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