Assessment of an enzyme mixture for removal of dags from feedlot cattle

Summary

The presence of dags on cattle hides is a major problem to the feedlot and meat processing sectors due to animal discomfort during removal, costliness of cleaning and the potential to compromise food safety. Dags are formed from dung, dirt, chaff and urine; an earlier project (FLOT.214) demonstrated efficacious removal of dags from hides soaked in solutions of enzymes. We aimed to demonstrate proof of concept for the use of enzymes contained in a matrix applied to a small number of live feedlot animals using objective measures of dag removal. However, we were unable to demonstrate efficacy of soaking in enzyme solutions towards dry, hard dags even after extended soaking, or trialling a range of enzymes and concentrations. We identified matrices for delivering the enzymes to live cattle which were suitable for food animals, supported enzyme activity and trialled these against dags. The matrix with enzyme did not improve dag removal. We conclude that dag consistency and porosity are crucial factors in determining whether enzymes can improve dag removal, and prior to future commercial release of an enzyme solution for cattle treatment, objective testing should be conducted on a wide range of dag types and compositions.