Evaluation of High Moisture and Dry Feed with and Without Hay Fed to Feeder Calves Subjected to Transportation Shrink

Two backgrounding trials evaluated effects of high-moisture diet or dry feed with or without a hay offering 48 h before shipment on shrink and subsequent weight recovery postshipment. In trial 1, 48 steers (initial BW 351 ± 26.9 kg) were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 diets: 1) 82% corn silage and 18% pelleted corn gluten feed or 2) 20% pelleted corn gluten feed, 40% pelleted peanut hulls, and 40% soybean hull pellets. Bermudagrass hay was offered to half of the calves on each diet 48 h before a 21-h transport period. There were 3 pens/diet and 4 steers/pen. Half of the steers from each pen were shipped (24 shipped; 24 unshipped). In trial 2, 118 calves (54 heifers; 64 steers; initial BW 297 ± 32.4 kg; 320 ± 36.3 kg) were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 diets used in trial 1 (3 pens/diet; 9 or 10 calves/pen). A total of 59 calves shipped, and the other 59 remained in their pen of origin. For trial 1, shipped calves shrank 7.1%, and BW remained different throughout the recovery period (P < 0.01). In trial 2, shipped calves shrank 8.4%, and BW remained different (P < 0.01) for calves throughout the recovery weigh period. Neither diet nor hay offering significantly affected shrink in either trial. Likewise, diet had no effect on postshipment BW recovery; however, offering hay 48 h before transport did affect subsequent weight recovery in trial 2 (P < 0.05).