The effects of direct and indirect road transport consignment in combination with feed withdrawal in young dairy calves

Abstract

Male dairy calves may be transported from their farm of origin at a young age. This process may involve an extended period off feed and indirect consignment through an intermediate facility, prompting potential welfare concerns. To assess the impact of transport, 59 male Holstein-Friesian dairy calves (5-9 d old) were either (1) held in situ on farm (control); (2) transported for 6 h; (3) transported for 12 h; or (4) transported for 1 h to a holding facility where they were kept for 6 h and then transported for 5 h. All treatments included a 30-h period of feed (milk) withdrawal, and calf responses were measured over time from before their last feed until the completion of the study after the transport and feed withdrawal periods. Apart from increases in serum creatine kinase in calves transported for 12 h, transported calves generally did not differ in blood concentrations of glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate, lactate, total protein or in packed cell volume, compared with controls (P>0.05). Calf responses to the indirect consignment treatment did not differ from those of other transported calves. Withdrawal of feed for 30 h caused calves to lose 6% of body weight; blood glucose varied from 3.96 mmol/l immediately before daily feeding to 5.46 mmol/l at 3 h post feeding, and then declined to 3.43 mmol/l at 30 h. Calves lay down for 22-32% of the time during transport, and did not show a rebound effect in lying behaviour post arrival in comparison with controls. Best practice transport of 6-12 h duration, including indirect consignment via a holding facility, did not significantly affect calf blood biochemistry and metabolism in comparison with untransported animals. However, extending the time off feed beyond the daily feeding interval resulted in reduced blood glucose concentrations, suggesting that time off feed needs to be carefully managed in young transported dairy calves.

Effect of transport and rest stop duration on the welfare of conditioned cattle transported by road

“…Lack of differences in HCT % has been previously reported between food restricted calves for 8 h prior to an 8 h transport, in comparison to calves that had access to food prior to transport [51]. No signs of dehydration have also been reported in young calves transported for prolonged distances [53,54,55]. Lack of differences between transport and rest stop treatments in the present study, could be due to water absorption of the ruminal contents (30-40 L), which could prevent dehydration [56].…”

Perspectives on the Management of Surplus Dairy Calves in the United States and Canada

“…Once sold, calves were moved to a pen with access to a chute system that included a ramp to load calves onto a livestock trailer. Depending on the length of subsequent transport, calves likely experience long durations without access to milk or water; resulting in hunger and dehydration (34)(35)(36). Further, commingling with unfamiliar animals (37) and novel environments (38) are substantial social stressors for dairy calves.…”

The Dispensable Surplus Dairy Calf: Is This Issue a “Wicked Problem” and Where Do We Go From Here?

“…Calves are often transported within a week of life (29), including within a day of birth (3), with mortality of calves less than a week old increasing exponentially with distance traveled (39). Particularly worrisome is that the time spent during transport usually equates to time that they do not have access to milk; a fact that has been shown to directly impact their welfare (1). This notion that time off feed is a risk factor for mortality was acknowledged by a group of Canadian dairy industry experts who noted that young calves have limited body reserves to meet the demands of transport, which can have a duration of up to 48 h including a rest stop (3).…”