Veal calves undergo many challenges in the early stages of their life. Such challenges, including mixing procedures and transportation of calves to the veal farm, may have a negative influence on growth rate, feed intake, metabolism, immunity and disease susceptibility of calves. As a consequence, many hematological, physiological, metabolic and immunological parameters of stressed calves might be altered on arrival at the veal farm. Some of these response variables might be useful as biomarkers of performance of calves at the veal farm as they might provide information about an ongoing disease process, or may predict future diseases. Biomarkers might be helpful to group and manage calves in different risk categories after arrival. By adopting treatment decisions and protocols on a risk-group or individual basis, it would be possible to improve animal health and reduce both disease incidence and antibiotic use. Moreover, the use of biomarkers might be an economically feasible approach as some of them do not need invasive techniques and others can be measured in blood already taken during routine checks. Previous literature mainly assessed the physiological responses of calves to transportation. However, information on the link between on-farm arrival data and future health and performance of veal calves is limited. This review, therefore, examined a wide range of papers and aimed to identify potential biomarkers of future health and performance.

This study aimed to investigate effects of pretransport diet (rearing milk vs. electrolytes), type of vehicle (open vs. conditioned truck), and transport duration (6 vs. 18 h) on physiological status of young calves upon arrival at the veal farm. A total of 368 calves were transported in 2 consecutive batches from a collection center to a veal farm. Blood samples were collected from calves before transport; immediately posttransport (T0); and 4, 24, and 48 h, and 1, 3, and 5 wk posttransport. Blood was analyzed for glucose, urea, lactate, nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), creatine kinase, albumin, total protein, osmolality, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and hematological variables. Body weight, rectal temperature, and skin elasticity were determined before and immediately posttransport. Blood glucose, NEFA, and urea concentrations at T0 showed an interaction between pretransport diet and transport duration. Milk-fed and electrolytefed calves transported for 18 h did not significantly differ in plasma glucose concentration or serum NEFA concentrations. However, after 6 h of transport, milkfed calves had higher plasma glucose and lower serum NEFA concentrations (4.71 mmol/L and 586.5 µmol/L, respectively) than electrolyte-fed calves (3.56 mmol/L and 916 µmol/L, respectively). After 18 h of transport, milk-fed calves had lower urea concentrations (5.40 mmol/L) than electrolyte-fed calves (7.38 mmol/L). In addition, at T0, after 6 h of transport, milk-fed calves gained weight (Δ = 0.41 kg), whereas electrolyte-fed calves lost weight (Δ = −0.16 kg). After 18 h of transport, both milk-fed and electrolyte-fed calves showed body weight losses (Δ = −0.67 and −0.74 kg, respectively). Type of vehicle had a limited influence on blood parameters. Concentrations of NEFA and BHB reached the maximum values at T0 and then decreased until wk 5 posttransport. The increase in NEFA and BHB concentrations between prior to and just posttransport (T0) was less pronounced in calves transported for 6 h (746.1 µmol/L and 0.38 mmol/L, respectively) than in calves transported for 18 h (850.6 µmol/L and 0.50 mmol/L). Overall, the recovery rate of calves at the veal farm seemed rapid; all blood parameters returned to (below) pretransport values within 48 h posttransport. We concluded that feeding milk before short-term transport helps young veal calves cope with transport, whereas this is not the case during long-term transport.

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The aim of this study was to investigate effects of different early life transport-related factors on health, behavior, use of medicines and slaughter characteristics of veal calves. An experiment was conducted with a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with 3 factors: (1) provision of rearing milk or electrolytes before transport, (2) transport duration (6 or 18 h), and (3) type of vehicle (open truck or conditioned truck). The study included male Holstein-Friesian and cross-bred calves (N = 368; 18 ± 4 days; 45.3 ± 3.3 kg). Data on health status of calves were collected at the collection center and at the veal farm until week 27 post-transport. Behavior of calves was recorded during transport and at the veal farm until week 13 post-transport. Use of herd and individual medical treatments was recorded at the veal farm. The prevalence of loose or liquid manure at the veal farm from day 1 until week 3 post-transport was lower in electrolyte-fed calves transported in the conditioned truck compared to electrolytes-fed calves transported in the open truck or milk-fed calves transported in both the conditioned and open truck (Δ = 11% on average; P = 0.02). In comparison with the open truck, calves transported in the conditioned truck had lower prevalence of navel inflammation in the first 3 weeks post-transport (Δ = 3 %; P = 0.05). More milk-fed calves received individual antibiotic treatments compared to electrolyte-fed calves at the veal farm (P = 0.05). In conclusion, the transport-related factors examined in the present study affected health and behavior of calves in the short-term, but there was no evidence for long-term effects. It remains unknown why no long-term effects were found in this study. Perhaps this absence of transport-related effects was due to multiple use of medical treatments in the first weeks at the veal farm. Alternatively, it might be that the collective effects of the transition from the dairy farm to the veal farm, and of the husbandry conditions during the subsequent rearing period, on the adaptive capacity of calves were so large that effects of individual transport-related factors were overruled.

The objective of this study was to investigate effects of calf transport age (14 vs. 28 d) and calf (e.g., sex and breed) and dam characteristics (e.g., parity and ease of birth) on health and performance of veal calves until slaughter age. Calves (n = 683) originated from 13 dairy farms in the Netherlands and were transported at either 14 or 28 d of age from the dairy farm to 8 Dutch veal farms. A health assessment of calves was performed on a weekly basis at the dairy farm and in wk 2, 10, 18, and 24 at the veal farm. Body weight of calves was measured on a weekly basis at the dairy farm and upon arrival at the veal farm. At the veal farm, use of antibiotics and other medicines during the rearing period (both at herd and individual level) was recorded and carcass weights were obtained from the slaughterhouse. Body weight upon arrival (Δ = 11.8 kg) and carcass weight at slaughter (Δ = 14.8 kg) were greater, and mortality risk (Δ = −3.1%) and prevalence of animals treated with medicines other than antibiotics (e.g., antiinflammatories, multivitamins, and anticoccidial drugs; Δ = −5.4%) were lower in calves transported at 28 d compared with calves transported at 14 d. Crossbreds other than Belgian Blue × Holstein Friesian received a higher number of individual treatments with antibiotics and other medicines (Δ = 14.8% and Δ = 15.1%, respectively) at the veal farm compared with Belgian Blue × Holstein Friesian calves. These findings suggest that calves transported at 28 d were more robust compared with calves transported at 14 d.