Liver abscesses affect a significant proportion of feedlot cattle fed high-concentrate diets, causing chronic pain and organ damage that represents a largely hidden welfare problem in beef production.
Liver abscesses in feedlot cattle represent a systemic welfare failure embedded in the standard production model. High-concentrate diets fed to maximize growth rate cause ruminal acidosis that enables bacterial translocation to the liver, where abscesses develop and persist throughout the finishing period. The fact that abscesses are only discovered at slaughter means affected animals receive no treatment, and farm-level welfare assessments cannot identify the problem. Dietary management approaches including gradual adaptation to high-grain diets and inclusion of roughage reduce abscess prevalence without antibiotic reliance, addressing both welfare and antibiotic stewardship goals.