Pharmacological and Behavioral Weaning Strategies to Reduce Stress in Beef Calves
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The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
2019
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu155508545882409 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu1555085458824092021-08-03T07:10:08Z Pharmacological and Behavioral Weaning Strategies to Reduce Stress in Beef Calves Nickles, Kirsten R. Animal Sciences Weaning is considered the most stressful period in a beef calf's life, as well as the most difficult for a producer to manage. The most common weaning strategy in the American beef industry is abrupt removal of calves from their dams. This abrupt separation results in decreased calf growth and efficiency, and often morbidity manifested as bovine respiratory disease. Ultimately, this results in compromised calf welfare and increased production costs for beef producers. To evaluate alternative weaning strategies, both a pharmacological and a behavioral method to reduce stress were investigated. In the first experiment, 80 heifer calves were randomly allocated to one of two treatments: Social Facilitator (SF): calves placed on pasture at weaning with a social facilitator or Control (CON): calves placed on pasture at weaning without a social facilitator. With four replications total, the social facilitator in each replication was a confirmed bred heifer. All calves were tracked using a Garmin® Astro 430/T5 GPS/GLONASS Dog Tracking System. Body weight, chute score, and exit velocity were recorded for two weeks post-weaning, and blood samples were taken to quantify nonesterified fatty acid and β-hydroxybutyrate concentrations. Calf behavior was also recorded using instantaneous scan sampling for two weeks post-weaning. Calves placed with a social facilitator at weaning walked fewer kilometers and devoted less time towalking on day 0. Body weight, average daily gain, chute score, exit velocity, and βhydroxybutyrate concentrations were not affected by the weaning treatment. Nonesterified fatty acid concentrations were, however, greater in the SF treatment group on day 7 and 14 post-weaning. The results from this experiment indicate that the addition of a social facilitator at weaning does decrease the distance and amount of time calves spend walking. Therefore, this weaning method may be beneficial to behavioral responses at weaning and calf production. The second experiment evaluated the use of intranasal oxytocin, at weaning. Twenty heifer calves were randomly allocated to one of two treatment groups: Intranasal Oxytocin (OXT) or Intranasal Saline (SAL) administered at weaning. Once calves received their intranasal treatment on the day of weaning, they were all housed together on pasture for the duration of the experiment. All calves were again fitted with their own Garmin® Astro 430/T5 GPS/GLONASS Dog Tracking System. Body weight, chute score, exit velocity, and behavior was also recorded for two weeks post-weaning. Blood samples were taken and used to quantify non-esterified fatty acid, β-hydroxybutyrate, and cortisol concentrations. There were no differences among the treatment groups in regard to GPS data, body weight, average daily gain, chute score, exit velocity, βhydroxybutyrate, or cortisol concentrations, however, calves in the SAL treatment group had greater non-esterified fatty acid concentrations on day 1 post-weaning. Therefore, oxytocin may have had a short-term effect on plasma metabolites related to energy balance. 2019-08-28 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu155508545882409 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu155508545882409 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Animal Sciences |
| spellingShingle |
Animal Sciences Nickles, Kirsten R. Pharmacological and Behavioral Weaning Strategies to Reduce Stress in Beef Calves |
| author |
Nickles, Kirsten R. |
| author_facet |
Nickles, Kirsten R. |
| author_sort |
Nickles, Kirsten R. |
| title |
Pharmacological and Behavioral Weaning Strategies to Reduce Stress in Beef Calves |
| title_short |
Pharmacological and Behavioral Weaning Strategies to Reduce Stress in Beef Calves |
| title_full |
Pharmacological and Behavioral Weaning Strategies to Reduce Stress in Beef Calves |
| title_fullStr |
Pharmacological and Behavioral Weaning Strategies to Reduce Stress in Beef Calves |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Pharmacological and Behavioral Weaning Strategies to Reduce Stress in Beef Calves |
| title_sort |
pharmacological and behavioral weaning strategies to reduce stress in beef calves |
| publisher |
The Ohio State University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu155508545882409 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT nickleskirstenr pharmacologicalandbehavioralweaningstrategiestoreducestressinbeefcalves |
| _version_ |
1719455288490196992 |