The objectives of this study were to determine whether calves produced by sexed sperm differed from controls and to what extent the sex ratio of calves was altered by the sexing procedure. Data were collected from 1,169 calves produced from sperm sexed by flow cytometry/cell sorting after staining with Hoechst 33342, and 793 calves produced from control sperm during breeding trials between 1997...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of group size on behavior, growth, health, and welfare of veal calves. Holstein-Friesian bull calves (n=168; 44±3 d of age) were assigned randomly to 1 of 3 treatments of group housing with 2, 4, or 8 calves per pen. The pens used for housing were 3 by 1.20 m (2 calves per pen), 3 by 2.40 m (4 calves per pen), and 3 by 4.80 m (8 calves p...

Dehorning is a painful husbandry procedure that is commonly performed in dairy calves. Parenteral meloxicam combined with local anesthesia mitigates the physiological and behavioral effects of dehorning in calves. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of timing of oral meloxicam administration on physiological responses in calves after dehorning. Thirty Holstein bull calves, ...

During previous work Schistosoma antibodies and circulating antigens were detected at birth in the serum from some calves born to Schistosoma mattheei infected mothers. The objectives of the present survey were: (1) to investigate the proportion of calves, born to cows infected with S. mattheei, which have specific antibodies and circulating schistosome antigens present in their serum at birth ...

The objectives of this study were to determine i) the effect of castration, dehorning, or both on the physiology and behavior of 3-mo-old Holstein calves, and ii) the effectiveness of pain relief to alleviate the pain caused by castration and/or dehorning. Holstein calves (n = 80) were assigned randomly to 1 of 8 treatments (10 calves/treatment): i) control handling (SHAM); ii) surgical castrat...

Housing preweaned dairy calves in pairs rather than individually has been found to positively affect behavioral responses in novel social and environmental situations, but concerns have been raised that close contact among very young animals may impair their health. In previous studies, the level of social contact permitted in individual housing has been auditory, visual, or physical contact. I...

Forty crossbred steers (Brahman x English) were categorized into two groups: 1) early weaned (EW; n = 20); and 2) normal weaned (NW; n = 20). Calves were 89 and 300 d of age at the time of EW and NW, respectively; SEM = 4.4. Early-weaned calves were kept on-site (University of Florida, Ona), provided supplement (1% of BW), and grazed on annual and perennial pastures until NW. At the time of nor...

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 DEAEdextran adjuvant (HSA-GnRH); 3) burdizzo castrat...

The objective of this experiment was to examine the effects of concentrates in feed, differing in carbohydrate source, on the rumen development of veal calves. For this purpose, 160 male Holstein Friesian x Dutch Friesian crossbred calves were used in a complete randomized block design with a 5 x 2 factorial arrangement. Dietary treatments consisted of 1) a milk replacer control, 2) a pectin-ba...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the occurrence rate, underlying etiology or treatment of left displacement of the abomasum in beef calves. OBJECTIVE Describe the clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of left displacement of the abomasum in 4 beef calves. ANIMALS Four client-owned beef breed calves with left displaced abomasum (LDA). METHODS Retrospective case series. Hospital me...