Holstein-Friesian

…Thirty Holstein-Friesian heifer calves (51–86 days old) were Lignocaine, when administered as a cornual nerve block or a sourced from ‘Corstophine’ Dairy Unit at The University of ring block, provides…

…Thirty 2-mo-old Holstein-Friesian calves were 2007). In the interim, it can be argued that the provi- randomly allocated to sham dehorning control (CON), sion of pain relief for these…

cedure in many commercial dairy and beef production enterprises which involves the removal of the horn and horn-producing tissue in genetically horned breeds of cattle. Cattle are dehorned to enable safe handling, to reduce injury to other cattle, and to reduce subsequent carcass bruising that reduces meat quality [1,2]. Cattle may also be dehorned to minimise the amount of trough space required at feeding [3]. Although dehorning remains a short- term solution for managing these issues, it is a procedure that will likely continue unless all farmed cattle become polled and dehorning is no longer required [4]. Recently, genetic research and commercial testing have successfully identified homozygous polled alleles to facilitate the selective breeding of polled cattle [5,6]. Extensive studies indicate that all three methods of dehorning including cautery, the use of caustic substances, and amputation, cause acute and chronic pain [2,7]. Amputation dehorning is the most common method of dehorning following attachment of the horn-bud to the skull, typically occurring after 2 months of age [8]. This method has been shown to cause a significant increase in cortisol secretion which persists for 7 to 9 h following dehorning, in the absence of anaesthesia or analgesia [9,10]. Similarly, changes in calf behaviour, including increased frequency of head shaking, ear flicking, tail flicking, and reduced rumination, are also indicative of a painful experience that persists for up to 6 h following dehorning when no anaesthesia or analgesia was provided [11]. Growing public concern for the welfare of production animals, has led to comprehensive research into different pain relief regimes for dehorning. The pre-procedural sub-cutaneous administration of a local anaesthetic to block

…Twenty-one female horned Holstein-Friesian dairy calves aged 8 to 24 weeks undergoing routine dehorning were used in this trial. Prior to experimentation, calves were moved from group pens into a…