On-farm welfare and carcass fat score of bulls at slaughter

The main aim of this historical cohort study on commercial farms was to determine the extent of the relationship between on-farm welfare and carcass fat scores at slaughter in bulls. We also explored the association between carcass fat score and certain production factors available in data collected at slaughter and calf transfers to the growing farms in order to develop a practical tool to evaluate risk of high fat scores. Welfare of growing bulls was evaluated using the previously validated partial A-Index. Production parameters of 34,364 bulls were collected at slaughter. A negative relationship was recorded between on-farm welfare and incidence of high fat scores (3–5) at slaughter using the partial A-Index score. Given this association and the cohort design of the study, it is hypothesised that there is a causative negative relationship between on-farm welfare and carcass fat. The A-Index appeared to be an appropriate tool to evaluate risk of high fat scores at the farm level.