Insulated and Uninsulated Housing Systems for Growing Bulls Fed Grass Silage ad Libitum

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Abstract
A total of 165 group-fed bulls of the Swedish Red and White breed were used to investigate differences in weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion, carcass traits and health when housed either in an insulated building with slatted floors in the pens or in an uninsulated building with partly deep-littered pens. The total pen area was 1.5–2.3 m2/bull in the insulated building and 3.6–5.8 m2/bull in the uninsulated building. The animals were fed a restricted amount of concentrate which was calculated to cover 50% of the energy requirement and grass silage ad libitum. They were slaughtered at about 470 kg live weight. There was no significant difference between animals in different buildings either in live weight gain, feed intake or feed conversion, but animals in the uninsulated building had significantly less fat in the carcass hindquarters than the others. At slaughter, significantly more pneumonic lesions were found among bulls in the insulated than in the uninsulated building, but this difference did not influence daily live weight gain or the amount of carcass dissectible fat. The conclusion was that animals in the uninsulated building had a higher energy requirement for maintenance and activity than the others and that the main reason for this was the difference between buildings in area per animal and in pen design.