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Pain mitigation following band castration of beef calves and its effects on performance, behavior, E. coli, and salivary cortisol

L. A. Gonzalez^*, K. S. Schwartzkopf-Genswein^*, N. A. Caulkett, E. Janzen, T. A. McAllister^*, E. Fierheller, A. L. Schaefer, D. B. Haley, J. M. Stookey^# and S. Hendrick^#

^* Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research Centre, Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 4B1, Canada , University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada , Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe Research Centre, Lacombe, Alberta T4L 1W1, Canada , University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2P5, Canada ^# University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4, Canada

gensweink{at}agr.gc.ca

Abstract

Eighty-nine steer and bull calves (210 ± 20 d of age) were randomly assigned to a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments to study the effect of sham or band castration (Cast) with or without pain medication (Med) on performance, behavior, cortisol, and E. coli shedding. Steers (serving as controls; C) were previously castrated at 34 ± 10 d of age whereas bulls (B) remained intact until band application on d 20 of the experiment. One-half of the calves in each group received either pain medication (M; xylazine epidural and i.v. flunixin meglumine) or saline (NM) solutions at 0.5 h prior to castration. Feed intake, ADG and feeding behavior were measured over a 3-wk period prior to (used as covariates), and a 6-wk period after castration. Fecal and saliva samples were collected from 32 calves for E. coli enumeration at -7 (covariate), 2, 5, and 7 d, and for cortisol concentration at -0.5 (covariate), 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 24, 48, 168 and 336 h relative to castration, respectively. Lying behavior was measured in the home pen and step length at exit from the chute. There were no significant Cast x Med interactions on growth rate or feed intake. Overall ADG was lower in B compared to C (P < 0.001) but feed intake was lower during wk 4 only (P = 0.01). On average, M had lower intake (P = 0.02) and eating rate (P = 0.04) than NM calves. The BM had lower fecal E. coli counts than CM (P = 0.05) and BNM calves (P = 0.08). Salivary cortisol was lower in BM compared to the rest of treatments at 1 and 2 h after banding (P 0.05). Castration reduced time spent lying (P = 0.06) and step length (P = 0.01) until d 28 after banding, whereas M reduced lying and step length on day of banding only (P 0.06). Significant Cast x Med interactions were observed for frequency of visits to feeders, and meal size, length and frequency (P < 0.05) independent of the time after castration. This was due to greater values in the CNM group compared to the rest, except for reduced meal frequency, indicating that both pain medication and castration affected feeding behavior. The medication protocol used in the present study eliminated the acute cortisol surge, which may be linked to reduced fecal E. coli counts observed during wk 1 after banding. However, feed intake, growth, and behavior suggested that pain was greatest during wk 3 and 4 after band application which highlights the need for chronic pain mitigation strategies.

Key Words: beef cattle • band castration • pain medication