Short duration lairage reduces total viable count of microbes on the hide of cattle

Short duration lairage is the practice of limiting time in lairage from 16 -24 hours (normal duration lairage) to 2 - 4 hours (short duration lairage). Reducing lairage duration is a benefit to industry as it allows animals to remain on feed for longer prior to slaughter, reducing stress and resulting in higher muscle glycogen (Ferguson, Shaw and Stark 2007). However, in a commercial processing facility, washing cattle and the associated microbiological contamination is seen as one of the barriers to adoption for short duration lairage (Dewell et al., 2008). Truck trailers, chutes and lairage pens also result in close contact between cattle and various surfaces, thus increasing the potential for environment-to-hide and hide-to-hide contamination (Small et al., 2006). The objective of this study was to determine if the microbial status of the hides of feedlot cattle exposed to short duration lairage would remain unchanged compared with normal duration lairage cattle.