Oral hydration therapy with water and bovine respiratory disease incidence affects rumination behavior, rumen pH, and rumen temperature in high-risk, newly received beef calves

Abstract

The study objectives were to determine the effect of oral hydration therapy and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) on rumination behavior, rumen pH, and rumen temperature. A random subset of high-risk, auction-sourced bulls from 3 truckload blocks (initial BW = 188.9 ± 19.1 kg) were fitted with a collar containing a 3-axis accelerometer to quantify rumination time and activity (n = 58) and administered a rumen pH and temperature data logging bolus (n = 33). At arrival, subset calves (n = 2 per pen) were balanced across treatment pens (n = 15 per treatment; n = 10 animals per pen) and randomized to receive 0.57 L water/45.4 kg BW from a modified oral drenching apparatus (H2O) or no water administration (CON). Standard arrival processing procedures were implemented including surgical castration. Modified-live virus respiratory vaccination was delayed until day 28. Technicians assigned a clinical illness score (CIS) daily; calves with CIS ≥ 2 and rectal temperature ≥ 40 °C were considered a BRD case (RCASE) and treated with an antimicrobial. The fixed effect of BRD cases vs. nontreated cohorts (RCON) was determined retrospectively using data from the accelerometer collar (n = 19 and 29) and rumen bolus (n = 12 and 21, for RCASE and RCON, respectively). Daily means and hourly means across days throughout the 56-d observation period were generated. Fixed effects were analyzed using the mixed model procedure with repeated measures. Daily rumen temperature was altered (P = 0.04) such that peak rumen temperature occurred earlier for H2O, whereas CON had increased (P ≤ 0.01) rumen temperature following delayed vaccination on day 28. Calves diagnosed with BRD had a transiently decreased (P = 0.04) active minutes between days 9 and 32, decreased (P < 0.01) active minutes between 0800 and 2000 h, decreased (P < 0.01) rumination time between 2000 and 0400 h, greater (P < 0.01) rumen temperature until delayed vaccination on day 28, and greater (P < 0.01) hourly rumen temperature between 0900 and 0300, and altered (P < 0.01) rumen pH. Earlier peak rumen temperature observed in H2O may indicate physiological modification enabling a more pronounced inflammatory response. Differences in rumination behavior and activity may be useful for early BRD detection.

Dietary forage to concentrate ratios impact on yak ruminal microbiota and metabolites

“…A stable rumen environment is particularly important for ruminants; pH, NH 3 -N, and VFAs molar concentrations are important indicators of a stable rumen environment and reflect the status of rumen fermentation ( Tomczak et al, 2019 ). In general, the most suitable pH for microbial growth and reproduction in the rumen is between 6.2 and 7.0, and the ecological environment of rumen microorganisms will be relatively stable within this range.…”

Assessment of diagnostic accuracy of biomarkers to assess lung consolidation in calves with induced bacterial pneumonia using receiver operating characteristic curves

“…Biomarkers previously used as diagnostic tools for BRD diagnosis include cortisol concentrations ( Theurer et al, 2013 ; Foote et al, 2017 ), infrared thermography ( Baruch et al, 2019 ), computerized lung score ( Zeineldin et al, 2016 ; Baruch et al, 2019 ; Nickell et al, 2020 ), acute-phase protein levels ( Abdallah et al, 2016 ), clinical illness score ( Amrine et al, 2013 ), and activity and behavior measurements ( Hanzlicek et al, 2010 ; White et al, 2012 ; Theurer et al, 2013 ; Pillen et al, 2016 ; Tomczak et al, 2019 ).…”

Behavior assessment and applications for BRD diagnosis: beef

“…It is important to note that the activity differences between BRD cases and controls reported by Tomczak et al . (2019) only existed between the hours of 08:00 (morning feeding time) and 20:00 (cessation of evening activity). This suggests that future behavior monitoring applications for early BRD detection may only require data logging between these hours of increased overall activity, which could reduce the amount of data generated and simplify the application of novel behavior assessment systems.…”

“…Tomczak et al . (2019) evaluated average daily active minutes logged by an accelerometer device in high-risk, newly received feedlot calves and reported differences between BRD cases and control calves never diagnosed with BRD (Fig. 2).…”

“…Similarly, circadian differences existed between BRD cases and controls (Fig. 3; Tomczak et al ., 2019). It is important to note that the activity differences between BRD cases and controls reported by Tomczak et al .…”