Evaluation of the prevalence of digital dermatitis and the effects on performance in beef feedlot cattle under organic trace mineral supplementation1

Abstract

Bovine digital dermatitis (DD) is a contagious and multifactorial disease that leads to painful, ulcerative lesions of the skin near the heel-horn border of the foot, most commonly in dairy cattle. With regard to beef cattle, the pathogenesis and etiology of DD has not been widely reported or studied over the past several decades. A longitudinal field trial in a commercial feedlot was conducted to compare prevalence and effects of DD in beef steers provided a diet supplemented with a novel formulation of inorganic and organic trace mineral sources (OTM diet) compared to a diet provided with similar levels of trace minerals solely from inorganic sources (CON diet). A secondary objective was to evaluate the prevalence of DD and the potential effects on growth performance and carcass yield and quality. One thousand seventy-seven steers were assigned to 1 of the 2 treatment groups (CON diet or OTM diet) based on location of their home pens which were situated in 1 of 2 barns. All pens in the B barn (group B) were assigned to the OTM diet, and all pens in the A barn (group A) were assigned to the CON diet. The study was conducted in 2 phases: adaptation phase (AP) comprising the initial 60 d of feeding CON and OTM diets and postadaptation phase (PAP) which lasted until cattle were sent to harvest. In the AP, pens in group B had a greater proportion of steers (54.03%) with DD lesions compared to pens in group A (26.72%). During the PAP, the relative risk of observing an increased DD prevalence was significantly ( < 0.05) higher in CON group compared to OTM group. Growth performance, final live weight, and hot carcass weight were negatively impacted when steers were observed to have active DD lesions (M2 lesions) compared to steers with no M2 lesions over the study period. For ADG, a calculated loss per steer of 0.08 kg/d from type I (no M2 lesions) to type II (one M2 lesion; SE = 0.028; = 0.003) and loss of 0.14 kg/d from type I to type III (multiple M2 lesions; SE = 0.038; = 0.0003) were observed. A significant BW loss of approximately 10.06 kg (SE = 4.18; = 0.022) and a mean reduction of 5.5 kg per steer in HCW (SE = 2.74; = 0.043) were also found between type I and type II steers.

Impact of Nutrients on the Hoof Health in Cattle

“…Copper (Cu) is part of protein synthesis, vitamin metabolism [ 113 ], connective tissue formation, and the immune system [ 42 , 65 , 113 , 120 , 121 ]. Copper is an essential element for the activation of the thiol oxidase enzyme, which is responsible for the formation of chemical bonds between keratin fibers.…”

“…Insufficient amounts of zinc, copper, and manganese promoted oxidative stress, increased incidence of cartilage disorders, and poor horn quality [ 27 ]. Copper bound in an organic amino acid complex is more bioavailable than inorganic sulphate sources [ 103 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 118 , 121 ], thereby improving the production of keratinized tissue [ 113 , 117 ], demonstrating a lower incidence of hoof disease in dairy cows fed organic forms of trace elements [ 113 ] and a reduction in the prevalence of lameness [ 27 ].…”

“…Manganese (Mn) plays role in protein synthesis, vitamin metabolism [ 113 ], connective tissue formation, the immune system [ 18 , 65 , 113 , 120 , 121 ], and the rate of wound healing [ 65 , 121 ]. A lack of manganese causes poor hoof quality, which reduces their hardness, fragmentation, and disorganization of collagen fibers with reduced collagen content [ 27 , 93 ].…”

“…Higher iodine content in the feed ration leads to a reduction in the incidence of digital dermatitis, and hoof lesions are smaller [ 122 ]. Iodine affects the local inflammatory response and the ability of macrophages to form compounds that destroy pathogens [ 65 , 121 ].…”

“…Initial serum concentrations of total iodine were not significantly different between the groups. After 60 and 90 days, the feed intake groups with increased addition of trace minerals in organic form and iodine showed better results in controlling dermatitis digitalis and reducing active M2 and M4 lesions [ 121 ]. In contrast, in another study, a group of cattle that were fed an iodine premix had higher serum iodine levels than the control group; however, feeding trace elements bound in organic form with the addition of iodine achieved a reduced size and number of M2 lesions [ 65 ].…”