Beef feedlots concentrate cattle at high densities for rapid finishing, raising welfare concerns about confinement, social stress, and health management.
Beef feedlot systems create welfare problems through confinement, high stocking density, and dietary management focused on rapid weight gain rather than animal welfare. Respiratory disease in intensively stocked feedlots is a major welfare issue, with shipping fever killing significant proportions of animals in some systems. Liver abscesses caused by acidosis from high-grain diets cause pain and reduce welfare quality. Limited space prevents normal movement and social behaviour. Mud and overcrowded conditions in outdoor lots cause skin problems and hoof disease. The high disease challenge and large group sizes make individual animal health monitoring challenging. Pasture-finished beef systems avoid most feedlot welfare problems at the cost of slower growth and different carcase qualities.