Beef Heifer Performance and Health Under Two Stocking Densities

54 Charolais heifers were monitored over 120 days to evaluate the impact of high (5.54 m²/animal) versus low (10.3 m²/animal) stocking density. The dataset includes longitudinal measurements of body weight, average daily gain, carcass yield, hematology, and longissimus dorsi ultrasound metrics. Anastasia Lisuzzo published this study on figshare under a CC-BY-4.0 license, with data last updated in June 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling the relationship between stocking density and average daily gain based on body weight measurements.
• Analyzing stress indicators in cattle based on longitudinal hematology data like neutrophil and lymphocyte counts.
• Predicting carcass yield and quality from in-life ultrasound measurements of muscle thickness and intramuscular fat.
• Comparing growth outcomes and health parameters between controlled experimental groups over a 120-day period.

Strengths

• Longitudinal design with measurements at five time points (D0, D30, D60, D90, D120).
• Includes 54 animals across two consecutive years, with 26-28 animals per experimental group.
• Combines multiple data types: productive performance (ADG, carcass yield), health (hematology), and ultrasound measurements.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The dataset is small (682.3 KB), indicating limited scope.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Experimental study with a longitudinal design; animals were randomly divided into two groups and evaluated with blood sampling and ultrasound.

Time Range

Study period covered 120 days per animal, across two consecutive years.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-03 06:08:13; freshness should be verified.