Health of fattening bulls
Concrete and rubber floors in comparison

Study of 40 fattening groups with 7 bulls each (= 280 bulls) in the cubicle house of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (Federal Research Institute for Animal Health) in Celle

Findings at the carpal joints

Standing up and laying down with heavy loads (knee drop test!) provokes swelling, or “capped knee”

• all in all less frequent with animals kept on rubber
• less severe on rubber

Tail tip necroses

Crushing injuries from stepping on the tail tip on hard floors often seriously damages health:

• ascending infections and necroses
• tail tip amputation by a vet

A soft floor reduces the severity of crushing through its elasticity:

• significantly less severe injuries
• fewer tail tip amputations

This is very advantageous to animal welfare, as well as for economic efficiency!

Source: 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, p. 47ff., 2008

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