A single dose of ketoprofen in the immediate postpartum period has the potential to improve dairy calf welfare in the first 48 h of life

Abstract

The welfare impact of birth on newborn calves has rarely been studied. Dystocia in particular may have significant welfare costs for calves. While analgesia is sometimes provided to calves born to difficult parturition by veterinary surgeons in practice, it is not known if this is actually beneficial. On a commercial dairy farm, we examined the behavioural time budget of 39 Holstein heifer calves born with the aid of farmer assistance and 36 calves born without assistance; half of each group were randomly allocated to receive either a single dose of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ketoprofen or a saline placebo in a two by two factorial design. The calves were group housed and their behaviour was recorded for 48 hours postpartum and analysed using instantaneous focal sampling (every 5 minutes in alternate hours). Regardless of analgesic treatment, calves born with assistance showed behaviours consistent with experiencing a less positive welfare state (lying with their head down and in lateral recumbency, and less time playing than unassisted calves). Behavioural differences between calves treated with ketoprofen and calves treated with saline (in particular increased play) suggest that the birth experience may be painful for all calves, even if no assistance is required. Our findings suggest that a single dose of ketoprofen in the immediate postpartum period may improve calf welfare regardless of assistance status and has the potential to contribute to significant welfare gains in dairy calves.

A randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of administering a non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drug to beef calves assisted at birth and risk factors associated with passive immunity, health, and growth

“…Murray and others19 found calves that received meloxicam at less than six hours of age had greater improvements in vigour from birth to one day of age than those receiving a placebo. Gladden and colleagues20 randomised calves by calving assistance (unassisted or assisted) to receive ketoprofen or placebo treatment within three hours of parturition and found that calves receiving ketoprofen had increased play behaviour and spent less time in lateral recumbency than those receiving a placebo. Although behavioural indicators of pain and inflammation were not measured in this study, these previous studies indicate that administering an NSAID at birth to calves may improve calf welfare.…”

“…Although a few studies have investigated the effects of administering an NSAID to neonatal calves, none has reported pathological side effects 19–21 27 28. Several studies have investigated the negative side effects of NSAIDs in neonatal foals, indicating repeated and higher doses of flunixin meglumine associated with stomach ulcerations and petechiations of the caecum and colon,51 but no side effects were found with daily administration of meloxicam in foals two to three days old 52.…”

“…Meloxicam is a COX2 preferential inhibitor NSAID, so it causes fewer negative side effects and has high bioavailability with a prolonged half-life in comparison with other NSAIDs 18. A few studies have shown positive effects of administering an NSAID at birth to dairy and beef calves,19–21 but a large-scale field trial that accounts for confounding risk factors and ranch management is needed.…”

Use of a Tri-Axial Accelerometer Can Reliably Detect Play Behaviour in Newborn Calves

“…An 800-cow Holstein dairy herd in Scotland, UK was recruited to the study. Calf management was as described previously [55,56]; briefly, calves are removed from the dam soon after birth (≤8 h) and housed in age-matched groups of four to six. All the calves are weighed and fed 4.5 L of colostrum within the first 4 h of life.…”

“…Calf behaviour was continuously filmed using closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras (Sony CCD, Vari-focal, 700 TV L, Sony, Minato, Japan) as described previously [55], and the video footage was stored on digital video recorders (DVR) (Guardian II+DVR 8 Channel, Digital Direct Security, Huntingdon, UK) on the farm. The required footage was regularly backed up onto an external hard drive (Seagate 1TB portable external hard drive, Seagate Technology LLC, Cupertino, CA, USA) for long-term storage and to facilitate analysis.…”