Consider the Source: The Impact of Social Mixing on Drylot Housed Steer Behavior and Productivity
Author(s): Courtney L. Daigle, Jason E. Sawyer, Reinaldo F. Cooke, and Jenny S. Jennings
Published: October 2023
Social mixing, a critical component of contemporary beef cattle management, can
cause psychosocial stress and typically occurs simultaneously with other stressors (e.g., weaning,
transportation, etc.), leaving the independent impact of social mixing on cattle welfare unknown. To
begin to disentangle this web, two different sources of genetically similar steers were either socially
mixed or housed with individuals from their source herds, and their productivity and behavior were
monitored.
Suggested Citation
Daigle, C.L., J.E. Sawyer, R.F. Cooke, and J.S. Jennings. 2023. Consider the source: The impact of social mixing on drylot housed steer behavior and productivity. Animals 13:2981. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13182981