Effect of castration method and the provision of local anesthesia on plasma cortisol, scrotal circumference, growth, and feed intake of bull calves.

Abstract

To determine the effects of castration of calves, with or without local anesthesia, on plasma cortisol, scrotal circumference, ADG, and ADFI, 56 Friesian bulls (5.5 mo of age; mean +/- SE BW = 173 +/- 2 kg) were randomly assigned to each of seven treatments: 1) control (CON); 2) s.c. injection of .1 mg of a human serum albumin-GnRH conjugate with DEAE-dextran adjuvant (HSA-GnRH); 3) burdizzo castration without local anesthetic (BURD); 4) burdizzo castration following local anesthetic administration (BURD + LA); 5) surgical castration without local anesthetic (SURG); 6) surgical castration following local anesthetic administration (SURG + LA); and 7) local anesthetic administration alone (LAA). Blood samples for cortisol analyses were taken via jugular catheter from -2 to 10 h and at 24, 48, and 72 h relative to treatment. Average daily feed intakes were recorded for 5-d periods and calves weighed at 7-d intervals before and after treatment. Local anesthetic alone had no effect (P > .10) on any variable. The HSA-GnRH calves had elevated (P < .05) plasma cortisol from 2 to 6 h compared with CON calves. Peak plasma cortisol was elevated (P < .01) in BURD, BURD + LA, SURG, and SURG + LA compared with CON calves. The SURG calves (46.0 ng/mL) had higher (P < .03) peak cortisol than BURD (31.4 ng/mL) and SURG + LA (35.4 ng/mL) calves. There was no difference in peak cortisol between BURD and BURD + LA (26.5 ng/mL) calves. The ADG from d 0 to 7 was reduced (P < .05) in calves in BURD + LA, SURG, and SURG + LA treatments (-.01, -.83 and -.24 kg, respectively) compared with CON calves (.54 kg). The ADFI were reduced (P < .05) in BURD and BURD + LA calves during d 1 to 5 and in BURD + LA, SURG, and SURG + LA calves during d 6 to 10 compared with CON calves. The scrotal circumferences of BURD and BURD + LA calves were greater (P < .05) than those of CON calves for 7- and 35-d periods post-castration, respectively. Castration induced increases in cortisol and decreases in ADG and ADFI. Surgical castration induced a greater plasma cortisol response than burdizzo castration, and the administration of local anesthetic reduced the cortisol response of surgical castrates but was less effective for burdizzo castrates.

Effects of castration age, dietary protein level and lysine/methionine ratio on animal performance, carcass and meat quality of Friesian steers intensively reared

“…However, it may also reduce ADG (Rotta et al, 2009). Results from the current study agree with previous studies conducted with Holstein steers castrated at 5.5 months of age (Fisher et al, 1996) that have reported no negative effects on ADG and feed intake in the first 35 days after castration. Bagley et al (1989) indicated that the practise of castrating calves at birth did not reduce suckling calf weight at weaning compared with delaying castration until 4 months of age.…”

Comparative effects of castration and dehorning in series or concurrent castration and dehorning procedures on stress responses and production in Holstein calves1

“…Surgical castration is generally followed by a period of reduced BW gain, the severity of which is usually related to the age of the animal at the time of the procedure (Bretschneider, 2005;Stafford and Mellor, 2005b;AVMA, 2011a). Losses in ADG after surgical castration tend to be greatest during the first 7 d after the procedure although cumulative ADG may be reduced through 27 to 35 d (Cohen et al, 1990;Fisher et al, 1996;Coetzee, 2013). The results of our study followed that pattern, with no significant BW change detected over the 7 d after the single castration procedure in either Period 1 (CAST 1 ) or Period 2 (CAST 2 ) but with a significant BW gain of the CAST 1 group during the interim between procedures.…”

Physiology and behavior of pigs before and after castration: effects of two topical anesthetics

“…Until a practical alternative to surgical castration is developed, there is a need to develop practical on-farm pain relief for piglets during castration. Local anesthesia has been used as a method to reduce the physiological and behavioral response to surgical castration in piglets (McGlone and Hellman, 1988;White et al, 1995;Leidig et al, 2009) and other species (Fisher et al, 1996;Dinniss et al, 1997;Molony et al, 1997;Stafford et al, 2002). However, it is impractical to use an injectable local anesthetic as a pain relief on the farm due to the increased time and stress caused by the need to repeatedly handle animals, once to administer the local anesthetic and the second time to castrate the animal.…”

“…This prolonged recovery period from anesthesia could increase the risk of crushing of the piglet by the sow and reduce feeding opportunities, which is suggestive that general anesthesia is not a practical form of pain relief for young pigs on the farm. A local anesthetic given before castration has been shown to reduce and even eliminate the cortisol response to castration in several species, including lambs (Dinniss et al, 1997;Molony et al, 1997) and calves (Fisher et al, 1996;Stafford et al, 2002). Local anesthetic was also shown to prevent the reduction in nursing and lying (without contact) behaviors in piglets in response to castration (McGlone and Hellman, 1988), and piglets given a local anesthetic before castration vocalized less during castration than those not given an anesthetic (White et al, 1995;Leidig et al, 2009).…”