Disbudding and dehorning practices for preweaned dairy calves by farmers in Wisconsin, USA

Abstract

Many dairy farmers in North America disbud or dehorn their cattle to improve human and animal safety. The Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM v. 4.0) program requires that disbudding be performed before 8 wk of age with pain-control medication. The objective of this observational cross-sectional study was to quantify disbudding and dehorning practices of Wisconsin dairy producers to target future extension programming. Responses from 217 Wisconsin dairy producers and calf raisers were collected via digital surveys distributed at extension events and through industry contacts. Of the 217 respondents, 188 performed on-farm disbudding themselves. Most respondents (61%) used caustic paste as their primary method, which was most commonly applied on the day the calf was born (53%). Hot iron was used by 32% of respondents, and surgical methods (gouge, scoop, or wire saw) were used by 6% of respondents. Hot-iron disbudding was most commonly performed at 4 to 8 wk of age (41%) and 1 to 4 wk of age (33%), whereas surgical methods were most commonly performed at 8 wk or older (73%). Pain-control medication was used by 43% of respondents. Specifically, 35% used an anti-inflammatory, and 21% used a local nerve block. Veterinary involvement in creating the disbudding protocol was associated with increased odds of using pain control. Respondents with a target weaning age of ≥10 wk had greater odds of complying with FARM disbudding requirements and were also more likely to use polled genetics. Respondents aged 18 to 34 and respondents with >60 calves were more likely to have made changes to their disbudding or dehorning protocol in the last decade. Although use of pain control was higher than in previous US studies, full adoption of pain management requires further extension efforts. Veterinarians appeared influential on adoption of pain control, and their involvement may encourage adoption of pain management. Further research should investigate how the implementation of new FARM v. 4.0 standards will change the disbudding and dehorning practices of American dairy producers.

Current Attitudes of Chinese Dairy Practitioners to Pain and Its Management in Intensively Raised Dairy Cattle

“…According to our unpublished data, more than 90% of the dairy farms in China use caustic paste as their primary disbudding method. This proportion is dramatically higher than that in the UK [ 17 ], Europe [ 18 ], and North America [ 19 ]. It should be noted that most studies and recommendations suggest hot iron as a preferable method for disbudding since it induces less total plasma cortisol responses [ 20 ] and less negative impact on calves’ behaviours [ 21 ].…”

A nationwide survey on producer and veterinarian perceptions of the painfulness of procedures and disease states in dairy and beef cattle

“…One difference worth identifying is that some of these studies demonstrate a greater use of pain mitigation for dehorning or disbudding as compared with those reported for castration. Saraceni et al ( 33 ) reported that 43% of Wisconsin producers provided pain control medication to calves for disbudding; the study was conducted prior to the disbudding requirements in FARM 4.0 ( 31 ). Hewson et al ( 18 ) reported a greater percentage of calves receiving pain mitigation (76% dairy, 54% beef) for dehorning than for castration.…”

“…Similarly, the FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) Animal Care program Version 4.0 requires the use of pain mitigation for disbudding ( 31 ) but defers to veterinarian recommendation for pain control associated with castration and branding. Although more recent veterinarian and producer surveys have shown an increase in reported pain mitigation use for common husbandry procedures ( 32 , 33 ), most studies have not demonstrated full integration of pain mitigation into best management procedures for cattle.…”

Graduate Student Literature Review: Role of pain mitigation on the welfare of dairy calves undergoing disbudding

“…A 2015 survey of Canadian producers reported that 86% of respondents used cautery disbudding as their primary method and 9% used caustic paste (Winder et al, 2018a). Similarly, in the United States in 2014, 70% of respondents reported disbudding their calves with a cautery iron and 16% with caustic paste (NAHMS, 2018); however, there may be regional differences in the use of disbudding products, as a recent survey performed among Wisconsin producers reported that 61% of respondents use of caustic paste for disbudding (Saraceni et al, 2021). Animals above 3 mo of age typically require surgical amputation dehorning.…”