A survey of castration methods and associated livestock management practices performed by bovine veterinarians in the United States

Coetzee, Johann F.; Nutsch, Abbey L.; Barbur, Laura; Bradburn, Ryan M

doi:10.1186/1746-6148-6-12

Cited by 88 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…However, the methods of castration varied widely across herds, with the most common being small elastrator bands (Coetzee et al, 2010). Castration by rubber Murray, Fick, Pajor, Barkema, Jelinski and Windeyer ring caused significant increases in painful behaviors compared with Burdizzo or surgical techniques (Robertson et al, 1994), have more prolonged effects including greater scrotal temperatures (Moya et al, 2014), and cause acute and chronic pain lasting for >42 days (Molony et al, 1995).…”

Section: Colostrum Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calf management practices and associations with herd-level morbidity and mortality on beef cow-calf operations

Murray

Fick

Pajor

et al. 2016

Animal

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The objective of this study was to investigate calf management practices on beef cow-calf operations and determine associations with herd-level morbidity and mortality of pre-weaned calves. A 40-question survey about management practices, morbidity and mortality was administered to cow-calf producers by distributing paper surveys and by circulating an online link through various media. A total of 267 producers completed the survey. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and multivariable linear regression models. Average herd-level treatment risk for pre-weaning calf diarrhea (PCD) and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) were 4.9% and 3.0%, respectively. Average herd-level mortality within the first 24 h of life (stillbirth), from 1 to 7 days and 7 days to weaning were 2.3%, 1.1%, and 1.4%, respectively. Operations that never intervened at parturition had 4.7% higher PCD than those that occasionally did. On operations using small elastrator bands for castration, PCD was 1.9% higher than those using other methods. For every increase of 100 cows in herd size, BRD decreased by 1.1%. The association between BRD and PCD varied by when calving season began. Operations that used off-farm, frozen colostrum had a 1.1% increase in stillbirths. Operations that verified a calf had suckled had 0.7% lower mortality from 1 to 7 days of age. Those that intervened when colostrum was abnormal or that used small elastrator bands for castration had 1.9% and 1.4% higher mortality during the 1 st week of life, respectively, compared with other operations. Mortality from 7 days to weaning was lower by 0.7% when calving season started in April compared with January or February and was higher by 1.0% for each additional week of calving season. Operations that intervened with colostrum consumption for assisted calvings had lower mortality from 7 days to weaning by 0.8% compared with those that did not. For every 1.0% increase in BRD, mortality from 7 days to weaning increased by 1.0%. Stillbirths and mortality from 7 days to weaning decreased non-linearly with herd size. Factors related to calving season, herd size, interventions at calving, colostrum management and castration impacted herd-level morbidity and mortality. However, effect size was generally small and causation cannot be determined with a cross-sectional study design. This study identifies several common health management practices associated with calfhood morbidity and mortality that should be further investigated to establish evidence-based management strategies to improve the health and survival of beef calves.

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Section: Colostrum Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calf management practices and associations with herd-level morbidity and mortality on beef cow-calf operations

Murray

Fick

Pajor

et al. 2016

Animal

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“…Theurer et al determined calves administered the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, meloxicam, prior to cautery dehorning spent more time lying down for 5 days post-dehorning compared to control calves that did not receive analgesia as commonly performed in production practice. 8,48 Lying behavior decreased in calves after being induced with experimental lameness using an amphotericin B synovitis-arthritis induction model. 49 Accelerometers are an effective tool for continuous monitoring of behavior changes in response to pain.…”

Section: Monitoring Activity With Accelerometersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote Noninvasive Assessment of Pain and Health Status in Cattle

Theurer¹,

Amrine²,

White³

2013

Veterinary Clinics of North America: Food Animal Practice

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SynopsisCattle behavior is frequently monitored to determine health and wellness state of the animal. The objective of this review is to describe potential benefits and challenges of remotely monitoring cattle behavior with available methodologies including clinical illness scores, visual monitoring, accelerometers, pedometers, feed intake and behavioral monitoring, global position systems, real time location systems, thermography images, and rumen telemetry temperature bolus. The behavior of interest, labor required, and monitoring expenses all need to be taken into consideration before deciding which remote behavioral monitoring device is most appropriate.Monitoring the feeding behavior of an animal over a period of time allows establishment of a baseline against which deviations in subsequent behavioral patterns can be evaluated.Interpretation of multiple behavioral responses as an aggregate indicator of animal wellness status rather than as individual outcomes may be a more accurate measure of true state of animal pain or wellness status. Key Points Cattle behavior is frequently monitored to determine health and wellness state.

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“…Alternatively, it can be done by using a Burdizzo clamp, which application causes the crushing of the spermatic cords and associated blood vessels within the scrotum, leaving the scrotum intact without any wound. Castration by the Burdizzo method is frequently used in various countries (Stafford et al, 2000;Boesch et al, 2006;Coetzee et al, 2010). During the first days after castration, a swelling of the scrotum is reported independent of the age of the calves at castration (Molony et al, 1995;Ting et al, 2005;Pang et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of castration and weaning conducted concurrently or consecutively on behaviour, blood traits and performance in beef calves

Lambertz

Farke-Röver

Moors

et al. 2015

Animal

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The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of Burdizzo castration and abrupt weaning on the behaviour, blood traits and performance of beef calves when weaning was conducted concurrently or consecutively to castration. In total, 64 male beef calves aged between 6 and 7 months were assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial design with the following treatment groups (n = 16 animals per treatment): (1) castrated and concurrently weaned in week 0 (CAS-WEA); (2) castrated in week 0 and weaned in week 4 (CAS-CON); (3) bulls weaned in week 0 (BUL-WEA); and (4) bulls weaned in week 4 (BUL-CON). The behaviour of the calves was observed for 3 days following weaning. Blood was collected weekly from weeks 0 to 5 and analysed for the acute-phase protein haptoglobin, and neutrophil and lymphocyte percentages. BW was recorded weekly from weeks 0 to 7. Animals were slaughtered at 17 months and weight, dressing percentage and carcass classifications were recorded. On day 1 after weaning, the number of vocalizations (calls/10 min) was higher in BUL-WEA (7.2) and CAS-WEA (5.4) than in calves of CAS-CON (2.8) and BUL-CON (2.9) groups (P < 0.05). From days 1 to 3 vocalizations decreased in all groups. CAS-CON and BUL-CON animals spent 20% lying on day 1 after weaning compared with 40% in CAS-WEA and BUL-WEA calves (P < 0.05). The haptoglobin concentration decreased during the first 5 weeks after weaning in all groups independent of the castration, weaning group or its interaction (P > 0.05). WEA groups showed an increased average daily gain (ADG) during weeks 0 to 3 and a reduced ADG during 4 to 7 weeks in comparison with CON animals. At slaughter, bulls were about 80 kg heavier than castrates and had a superior dressing percentage and carcass classification (P > 0.05). In conclusion, weaning had a greater effect on the number of vocalizations, standing/walking and lying behaviour and ADG compared with Burdizzo castration. In comparison with undertaking the procedures separately, concurrent castration and weaning neither affected behaviour and haematological parameters nor impaired performance. There was no evidence that the concurrent application of both treatments markedly increased the stress response compared with their application at intervals of a few weeks.

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A survey of castration methods and associated livestock management practices performed by bovine veterinarians in the United States

Cited by 88 publications

References 21 publications

Calf management practices and associations with herd-level morbidity and mortality on beef cow-calf operations

Calf management practices and associations with herd-level morbidity and mortality on beef cow-calf operations

Remote Noninvasive Assessment of Pain and Health Status in Cattle

Effects of castration and weaning conducted concurrently or consecutively on behaviour, blood traits and performance in beef calves

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