Impacts of calving management, calf risk factors, and difficult calvings on health and performance of beef calves

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dc.contributor.advisorWindeyer, M. Claire
dc.contributor.advisorPajor, Edmond Anthony
dc.contributor.authorPearson, Jennifer M.
dc.contributor.committeememberCampbell, John R.
dc.contributor.committeememberCaulkett, Nigel
dc.contributor.committeememberLévy, Michael Z.
dc.date2019-11
dc.date.accessioned2019-09-05T17:18:56Z
dc.date.available2019-09-05T17:18:56Z
dc.date.issued2019-08-28
dc.description.abstractCalf health and survival is crucial to successful cow-calf operations. Assisted calves are at a disadvantage compared to their herdmates because they may be injured, oxygen deprived, or less vigorous at birth. Determining evidence-based management practices to mitigate the effects of calving assistance on calf health and survival, as well as investigating risk factors associated with assisted calvings that affect transfer of passive immunity (TPI), morbidity, mortality, and growth, will help improve calf wellbeing. Therefore, the objectives of this thesis were to: benchmark the incidence of calving assistance and health outcomes, and describe current calving and colostrum management practices; to determine the impacts of subclinical trauma on calf vigour and TPI; and to investigate the impact of implementing pain mitigation at birth to assisted beef calves. Chapter 2 described current calving and colostrum management practices found on western Canadian cow-calf operations. Although the incidence of assisted calvings was low, the majority of producers assisted at least one calving, indicating the importance of understanding intervention and management strategies in compromised calves such as those assisted at birth. Chapter 3 quantified subclinical trauma associated with the degree of calving difficulty, and evaluated associations between subclinical trauma and calf vigour and TPI. Calves experiencing difficult births had elevated levels of subclinical trauma and decreased vigour. Subclinical trauma and reduced vigour were also associated with inadequate TPI. Chapters 4 and 5 investigated the clinical impacts of administering a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug to assisted beef calves at birth. In Chapter 4, calves administered meloxicam had greater average daily gain in the first week of life compared to placebo treated calves, but no effect was seen on pain and inflammatory mediators, vigour, TPI, health, or weaning growth. In Chapter 5, there was no effect of administering meloxicam to assisted calves on TPI, health, or growth, but vigour assessment and colostrum management were found to be important management tools associated with TPI, calf health, and growth. Therefore, calves assisted at birth experience subclinical trauma that affects their vigour and TPI. Pain mitigation strategies, vigour assessment, and colostrum management may be important tools to improve wellbeing in assisted beef calves.en_US
dc.identifier.citationPearson, J. M. (2019). Impacts of calving management, calf risk factors, and difficult calvings on health and performance of beef calves (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36938
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110860
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyVeterinary Medicineen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectbeef calvesen_US
dc.subjectcalf healthen_US
dc.subjectmeloxicamen_US
dc.subjectneonatesen_US
dc.subjectpain and inflammationen_US
dc.subjecttransfer of passive immunityen_US
dc.subjecttraumaen_US
dc.subjectvigouren_US
dc.subject.classificationVeterinary Scienceen_US
dc.titleImpacts of calving management, calf risk factors, and difficult calvings on health and performance of beef calvesen_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineVeterinary Medical Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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