Defining risk for low reticuloruminal pH during the diet transition period in a commercial feedlot in western Canada

The objective of the current study was to measure reticuloruminal pH in cattle in a commercial feedlot setting to determine the incidence and extent of low reticuloruminal pH for steers and heifers as they transition to a high-concentrate finishing diet. Reticuloruminal pH was measured in 16 "mixed breed" steers (4 steers/pen with 4 pens) and 16 "mixed breed" heifers (4 heifers/pen with 4 pens) housed in commercial feedlot pens, with 227 ± 13 and 249 ± 6 cattle/pen cohort steers and heifers, respectively, for the diet transition period. Cattle were transitioned from a diet of 53.5% forage and 46.5% concentrate to a diet of 9.5% forage and 90.5% concentrate on a DM basis using a 40-d transition with 5 dietary steps with the diets containing 41.4, 44.8, 49.8, 52.5, 55.1, and 64.0% nonfibrous carbohydrate. In addition, wheat replaced barley as the grain source during the dietary transition. Reticuloruminal pH was measured using orally administered pH measurement devices that were retrieved at slaughter. Data were analyzed using a mixed model including the fixed effects of sex, diet, and the 2-way interaction to evaluate the effect of diet and sex and with the fixed effects of sex, diet, and day relative to each dietary change along with the 2- and 3-way interactions to evaluate temporal responses as a result of diet change. A repeated measures statement was included for the effect of day. Both the mean and minimum reticuloruminal pH values decreased as the proportion of concentrate in the diet increased ( < 0.001). The area and duration that pH was 180 min, increased with increasing concentrate, and by the end of the 40-d dietary transition, 83% of the cattle had experienced at least 1 bout of low reticuloruminal pH, with most experiencing between 1 and 3 bouts/diet. These data are interpreted to suggest that cattle are at high risk for experiencing low reticuloruminal pH during the dietary transition but that the extent of low reticuloruminal pH is mild. Moreover, the data suggest that the risk for low reticuloruminal pH increases with increasing proportion of concentrate in the diet. The results also suggest that susceptibility to low reticuloruminal pH may differ between steers and heifers.