Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single subcutaneous injection of meloxicam on scrotal healing, inflammatory response, and behaviour in castrated or castrated and branded beef calves for 42 d post procedure. Seventy-two 2-mo-old Angus crossbred bull calves were used to assess the effects of procedure (Trt): (1) sham control, (2) knife castration, and (3) knife castration and hot-iron branding; and pain mitigation (Med): (1) nonmedicated and (2) medicated with meloxicam according to a 3 × 2 factorial design. Body weight, scrotal circumference (SC), and healing scores were collected weekly until day 42. Blood samples were collected weekly until day 42 to assess haptoglobin, serum amyloid-A, and complete blood cell count. Hair was collected on day −1 and day 42 to assess cortisol concentrations. Lying and standing behaviour were recorded for 42 d, whereas pain-related behaviours were recorded on days 7, 15, 22, 29, and 34 post procedure. The inflammatory response (SC) and duration of standing was greater (P < 0.05) in calves castrated and branded than those only castrated. However, meloxicam did not reduce inflammation or improve wound healing in either castrated or castrated and branded calves.
Highlights
The most common painful procedures experienced by beef cattle in North America include castration, dehorning, and branding (Tucker et al 2015)
Final body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) were greater (P < 0.01) in CN (179 ± 1.4 kg, and 1.2 ± 0.03 kg d−1) than knife castration (KN) (173 ± 1.4 kg, and 1.1 ± 0.03 kg d−1) and knife castration and branding (KB) (172 ± 1.4 kg, and 1.0 ± 0.03 kg d−1) calves. These results are in agreement with previous studies reporting that castration and other painful procedures are known to reduce ADG which has been attributed to inappetence related to pain (Fisher et al 1996; Earley and Crowe 2002; Weary et al 2006), as well as suppression of androgens after castration (Steen and Kilpatrick 1995)
We hypothesized that because meloxicam has a longer half-life compared with other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) (Stock and Coetzee 2015), it may attenuate the detrimental effects of castration on performance that other NSAIDs failed to prevent (Ting et al 2003a, 2003b; Webster et al 2013; Pang et al 2006, 2008; Petherick et al 2014)
Summary
The most common painful procedures experienced by beef cattle in North America include castration, dehorning, and branding (Tucker et al 2015). All published studies evaluating the combined effect of two painful routine management procedures have assessed castration in combination with dehorning (Schwartzkopf-Genswein et al 2005; Ballou et al 2013; Mosher et al 2013; Sutherland et al 2013). The few studies that have evaluated the welfare implications of hot-iron branding have reported several indicators associated with pain (Lay et al 1992; Schwartzkopf-Genswein et al 1997a, 1997b, 1997c; Tucker et al 2014a, 2014b). The use of a von Frey anesthesiometer indicated that branding wounds remain sensitive for at least 10 wk after branding (Tucker et al 2014a, 2014b)
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