Housing systems (loose housing vs. tie stalls) effect on animal welfare, carcass characteristics and meat quality of the supraspinatus, longissimus lumborum and semitendinosus muscles in finishing beef bulls

This study was to investigate the effects of housing systems (loose housing vs. tie stalls) in the finishing beef bulls. A total of 119 bulls were collected from the same farm, with an average live weight of 681 kg. The sample comprised 58 loose-housing bulls and 61 tie-stall bulls, each treatment group has six replicates, with a fattening period of approximately 5 to 9 months. These animals were utilized for comparative research on the impact of housing systems on physical activity, blood parameters, live animal traits, carcass characteristics, and meat quality. These traits are affected by the housing systems (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Compared with tie-stall bulls, loose-housing bulls exhibited longer periods of physical activity (6.76 h/day vs. 3.61 h/day) and different daytime activity patterns, blood parameters closer to health norms, similar dressing percentages (58.80% vs. 58.97%), lighter bone weights (55.86 kg vs. 66.86 kg), heavier liver weights (7.91 kg vs. 6.51 kg), and more developed hind limb muscles. The supraspinatus, longissimus lumborum, and semitendinosus muscles exhibited less redness (CIE a* 15.75–18.71 vs. CIE a* 16.03–23.86) and darker meat color (CIE L* 28.49–30.67 vs. CIE L* 28.31–35.07). Additionally, loose-housing bulls had lower muscle shear force (47.41–49.09 N vs. 60.14–89.71 N). Notably, the semitendinosus muscle showed the highest level of responsiveness to housing systems in terms of meat quality traits. In conclusion, loose housing is more advantageous for animal welfare, growth rate, meat yield, and tenderness for finishing beef bulls compared with tie stalls.