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Winter night-feeding shows potential to boost feeder cattle performance

Feeding in the dark on a cold winter's night probably doesn't appeal to most feedlot operators. But, a new indication night feeding can improve daily rate of gain by as much as 10 and 20 percent dangles a real economic carrot, says a University of Manitoba researcher who has tested the practice.

While results of a two-year research project led by Dr. Alma Kennedy weren't conclusive, she found some groups of feeder cattle fed after 8 p.m. had increased rates of gain ranging from nine to as high as 28 percent, and up to six percent improved feed efficiency, over similar groups of cattle fed during the day. The study was funded in part by the Canada Alberta Beef Industry Development Fund (CABIDF).

The fact that some groups of cattle showed no or limited response to night feeding makes it clear the next step is to pinpoint the combination of factors that produced the improved performance, says Kennedy, an associate professor in the department of animal science, specializing in environmental physiology.

"With this project, we achieved a proof of concept that winter night feeding can produce a positive response in cattle," says Kennedy. "Further study with larger groups of animals will be needed to determine exact benefits and how to produce consistent results, but it's clear that winter night feeding has some real potential."

For groups of cattle that showed a positive response, there are likely several contributing factors, says Kennedy. However, the key appeared to be that night feeding tricked the animals' metabolism into devoting more energy into muscle building rather than to acclimatizing to winter conditions.

The study involved a total of about 500 head of cross-bred feeder cattle, fed at three locations, in two provinces, over two winters.

Factors affecting variable research results include variable winter temperatures, feeding method (ad lib versus restricted feeding), and changes in animal behavior in winter, she says. "Night feeding has a lot of potential. But, now we need to work with more cattle over a number of winters to find out under what conditions the practice works best."

Kennedy's research attempted to manipulate the natural tendency of beef cattle to acclimatize to the cold temperatures by increasing their resting-heat production rates, described as their "idling" rate. It takes weeks for an animal to elevate its resting-heat production, and weeks, whether cold or not, for it to subside at the end of winter. That means energy that could go to growth is used to support elevation in the idling rate.

"By feeding at night we wanted to make feed available to the animal in the colder part of the day," says Kennedy. Food digestion naturally increases body temperature. Suspecting the usual overnight dip in body temperature might direct the body to acclimatize, it was hoped the late feeding would prevent that dip in body temperature and prevent energy being used on elevated resting-heat production.

Feeding trials ran from late November until April at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Lethbridge Research Centre (LRC) and Brandon Research Centre (BRC), and at the University of Manitoba's Glenlea research farm. Winter conditions ranged from cold to mild over the two years, but in this limited project there didn't appear to be any clear pattern related to temperature or feeding method.

"Since night-time feeding is likely less convenient for most feedlot operators we need to find out what management factors produce consistent results before we can make a clear recommendation," says Kennedy.

CABIDF is a joint $16.4 million fund of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The Fund is administered by Alberta Beef Producers and has supported more than 50 projects in five major categories identified to benefit the Alberta beef industry.

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