Abstract
ABSTRACT Weaning is a necessary husbandry practice in which nutritional, social, physical and psychological stressors are imposed on the beef calf causing alterations in behavioural and physiological responses. The present paper is a review of studies on the influence of weaning stress at housing on beef calves. To date, few studies have examined the effect of weaning on the extended physiological and immunological responses of beef calves and cows. Studies indicate that weaning in combination with immediate housing decreased total leukocyte numbers, reduced in vitro production of interferon-gamma and increased concentrations of acute phase proteins compared with deferring housing for 35 days post weaning. In cows, transitory neutrophilia (increase in neutrophil number) and lymphopenia (decrease in lymphocyte number), reduced interferon-γ production, and increased concentrations of acute phase proteins were evident post weaning, whereas post-housing, changes were less marked. Thus, there is a greater transitory reduction in immune function biomarkers in calves immediately post weaning. These immune biomarkers may be used in the future to help identify animals susceptible to weaning stress and that are more likely to succumb to respiratory infection.
Highlights
Livestock are generally weaned at a much younger age than that observed for natural weaning and, what is more, livestock may encounter more associated stressors such as social disruption, new environments and additional processing or husbandry practices
Through the examination of these key areas, this paper sought to highlight some of the current gaps in the knowledge pertaining to weaning stress in beef cattle
Weaning is implemented in production systems where forage may be limiting due to unfavourable climatic conditions to improve body condition score in beef cows, increasing pregnancy rate and decreasing postpartum anoestrous period (Arthington and Minton 2004)
Summary
Under natural conditions, weaning for the offspring involves a complete transition from nutritional and social dependence on the mother to complete independence. Studies examining the effects of alternative weaning methods have generally implied that these methods serve to reduce the distress associated with weaning as measured by the reduced behavioural responses compared with abruptly weaned beef calves (Price et al 2003; Haley et al 2005; Boland et al 2008).
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