Measuring health and performance in preweaning dairy calves

Sherwin, Ginny; Hudson, Chris; Henderson, A.; Breen, James

doi:10.1136/inp.i1185

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The nutritional plane may also play a role, because energetic demands can more than double after a severe burn in humans, and nutritional deficits impair healing (Clark et al, 2017). The growth rate of 0.64 kg/d in the current study is below the recommended target of 0.8 kg/d (Sherwin et al, 2016), and healing times may be shorter in calves fed a more biologically appropriate nutritional plane. Seasonally dependent environmental variables, such as duration of daylight, may also contribute to variation in healing (e.g., Nelson and Blom, 1994;Kinsey et al, 2003).…”

Section: Part Ii: Laterality Effects On Wound Healingmentioning

confidence: 61%

Iron and laterality effects on healing of cautery disbudding wounds in dairy calves

Adcock

Vieira

Álvarez

et al. 2019

Journal of Dairy Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hot-iron disbudding, the process of cauterizing the horn buds of calves or goat kids at an early age to prevent horn growth, is routinely practiced in dairy production. The wounds take weeks to heal and are painful to touch throughout this time. Possible strategies to hasten the healing of disbudding wounds are not well understood, but the type of iron used may be an important factor to consider. When evaluating strategies to hasten healing, a within-subjects design may be preferable, but laterality effects might act as a potential source of variation and confounding in this type of experiment. Our objectives were to compare healing after disbudding with 2 commercially available irons, and to determine whether wounds healed differently on the left versus the right side of the head. Ten Holstein calves 4 to 10 d of age were disbudded using the Rhinehart X50A electric disbudder (Rhinehart Development Corp., Spencerville, IN) on one horn bud and the Portasol gas disbudder (Portasol USA, Elmira, OR) on the other; side (left vs. right) was balanced between treatments. We scored wounds daily for the presence of 6 tissue types: attached necrotic tissue, detached necrotic tissue, exudate, granulation, crust, and epithelium. Surface temperature and size of the wound were measured twice-weekly using thermal and digital photographs, respectively. The type of iron used did not affect latency to re-epithelialize, which took on average (mean ± standard deviation) 53 ± 3 d and 55 ± 3 d for Portasol and Rhinehart wounds, respectively (range: 40-70 d). However, compared with Portasol wounds, those from the Rhinehart had fewer days of granulation tissue and tended to have more days of detached necrotic tissue. The Portasol tip had a smaller total surface area than the Rhinehart, which may have resulted in a less severe burn, causing the necrotic tissue to fall off sooner. The left side tended to re-epithelialize faster than the right side (mean ± standard error: left 51 ± 3 d; right 57 ± 3 d) and have fewer days of crust. Left-sided wounds were also cooler and tended to be smaller than those on the right. To assess the external validity of these laterality effects in our primary experiment (experiment A), we analyzed wound healing data from 2 other disbudding studies, one on calves (experiment B) and one on goat kids (experiment C). We observed laterality effects in the opposite direction in Experiment B, but negligible effects in experiment C, indicating that the differences in laterality had low external validity; the biological meaning of this asymmetry is unclear. Nonetheless, if using a within-subjects design, asymmetries in wound healing should be considered to avoid confounding effects. In conclusion, wounds from both irons took 7 to 8 wk to heal, on average; other strategies to accelerate healing should be explored.

show abstract

Section: Part Ii: Laterality Effects On Wound Healingmentioning

confidence: 61%

Iron and laterality effects on healing of cautery disbudding wounds in dairy calves

Adcock

Vieira

Álvarez

et al. 2019

Journal of Dairy Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…recording of liveweight whilst in the group housing igloo pen for the duration of the study (WGT1, WGT2, WGT3, WGT4, WGT5, WGT6, WGT7). Daily liveweight gain (DLWG) (kg/d) for G2E was calculated but, to take into account the possible changing rate of DLWG over time between entering the group housing igloo pen and the end of study period, a linear regression was applied for G2E, with the value of the slope used as DLWG [ 9 , 25 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, calf growth—specifically, daily liveweight gain (DLWG)—is a key performance indicator for monitoring success in calf rearing. DLWG is influenced by colostrum provision [ 6 , 7 ], ongoing nutrition, incidence of disease, and the quality of the calf’s environment [ 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of the Climatic Housing Environment on the Growth of Dairy-Bred Calves in the First Month of Life on a Scottish Farm

Robertson²,

Macrae

et al. 2021

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Calf housing is naturally thermodynamic, with interactions between various elements such as wind speed, air temperature, and humidity. This study investigated the effect of the proportion of time for which calves were exposed to effective environmental temperatures below their lower critical temperature (LCT) on their daily liveweight gain (DLWG) within their first month of life. This study used the naturally occurring climatic environment, whereas other such studies have been conducted under climatically controlled conditions. Air temperature (°C), relative humidity (%), and wind speed (m/s) were recorded within the calf housing from birth until approximately 28 days of age, with calves being health-scored and weighed at regular intervals. Calves were housed from birth until 6–14 days old in individual hutches, and then moved into group housing igloo pens. Whilst individually housed, calves that spent less than 32% of their time below their LCT had a DLWG of 0.06 ± 0.34 kg/d (mean ± SE) compared to calves that spent more than 97% of their time below their LCT, which had a DLWG of −0.19 ± 0.045 kg/d. When group housed, calves that spent less than 1% of their time below their LCT had a DLWG of 0.59 ± 0.18 kg/d, whereas calves that spent more than 28% of their time below their LCT had a DLWG of 0.53 ± 0.23 kg/d. The proportion of time for which calves were exposed to effective environmental temperatures below their LCT had a significant effect on DLWG when calves were individually housed. Therefore, exposure to effective environmental temperatures below the LCT can be detrimental to the growth of the calf in the early stages of its life.

show abstract

“…Where farmer interviewees appreciated the impact of health and growth rate on calves' future performance in the milking herd, they were more likely to be monitoring calf health and growth data. Designated calf rearers were most likely to have the time and inclination to monitor calf performance and valued the ability to objectively assess calf management practises and determine the need to invest time and money for improvements (Sherwin et al, 2016) proactively rather than retroactively observing a problem when rearing targets were not met. Some farmer participants valued the option of having a veterinary technician perform certain husbandry practises (e.g., disbudding) and data monitoring (e.g., weighing calves to record growth rates) and there is now a formal qualification for this role in the UK (Institute for Apprenticeships Technical Education, 2021).…”

Section: Recognition Of Calf Potential and Data Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Youngstock Management as “The Key for Everything”? Perceived Value of Calves and the Role of Calf Performance Monitoring and Advice on Dairy Farms

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Replacement heifers are key to the future milking herd and farm economic efficiency but are not always prioritised on dairy farms. Dairy enterprises are comprised of components which compete for limited resources; scarce information about calf performance and the associated losses and (potential) gains on farms can mean calves are prioritised less in management and investment decisions. The research reported in this paper explored the personal and contextual factors that influence calf management decisions on dairy farms. Forty in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with dairy farmers (26 interviews) and farm advisors (14 interviews) who were recruited using purposive and “snowball” sampling. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed. Six major themes were constructed from the interview data relating to: the perceived importance of youngstock management, the role and influence of calf rearers, calf performance monitoring, farmer engagement with information and advice, the quality of communication and advice, and veterinary involvement in calf rearing. Results indicated that although the wider dairy industry has promoted the importance of youngstock, calves often have not been fully integrated into the whole dairy farm system, nor culturally accepted as an integral part of the productive herd. Calves tended to be marginalised on farms, largely due to limited resources, lack of data monitoring, and their unrecognised potential, as well as social norms and scarcity of support structures impacting upon farm investment and management decisions. Many calf rearers were disappointed by the repetition and impractical nature of information in print media. Most farmers did not routinely consult their veterinarian about their calves, rather following a reactive treatment model even when a preventive herd health strategy was applied to the adult herd. Advisory structures often require a driven individual with calf-centric interest to prevent calves from being overlooked. Furthermore, advisory efforts often failed to motivate farmers to act on advice. These findings indicate the need for greater focus on how to achieve rearing targets by provision of technical and support structures to foster action toward improved calf wellbeing, and for the status of calves to be raised in line with their vital importance for the future dairy herd.

show abstract

Measuring health and performance in preweaning dairy calves

Cited by 7 publications

References 47 publications

Iron and laterality effects on healing of cautery disbudding wounds in dairy calves

Iron and laterality effects on healing of cautery disbudding wounds in dairy calves

The Effect of the Climatic Housing Environment on the Growth of Dairy-Bred Calves in the First Month of Life on a Scottish Farm

Youngstock Management as “The Key for Everything”? Perceived Value of Calves and the Role of Calf Performance Monitoring and Advice on Dairy Farms

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About