Data for "Pain in the weeks following surgical and rubber ring castration in dairy calves"

Many male dairy calves are castrated when reared for beef production, but for dairy breeds the assessment of the longer-lasting pain associated with this procedure has received little scientific attention. In this study we assessed 2 methods: surgical (n = 10 calves) and rubber ring (n = 11). All calves were castrated at 28 d of age using multimodal pain control. During the 8 wk that followed, we recorded wound healing, local inflammation, body weight, milk and calf starter intake, lying time, and wound-directed behavior. Surgical wounds were fully healed on average 4 wk after the procedure, but only 1 calf in the rubber ring treatment fully healed within the 8-wk study. Inflammation was greater after rubber ring castration; skin temperature in the area around the lesion was 1.7°C (±0.35) higher than for the surgical treatment. Compared with surgically castrated calves, those castrated by rubber ring gained less weight over the study period (on average 11.9 ± 5.1 kg less), a difference due in part to lower intake of calf starter (on average 1.8 ± 0.6 kg less). Calves in the rubber ring treatment spent less time lying down (on average 4.2 ± 1.2% fewer scans per day) and licked their lesions more frequently (on average 16.0 ± 3.3 more licks per day). We conclude that the rubber ring calves experienced more pain in the weeks following the procedure and thus recommend that surgical castration be favored for preweaning dairy calves.

多数用于肉牛生产的雄性奶用犊牛会接受去势手术，但针对奶用品种，该手术相关的长期疼痛评估却鲜有科学关注。本研究评估了两种去势方法：外科去势法（n=10头犊牛）与橡胶环去势法（n=11头犊牛）。所有受试犊牛均于28日龄时接受去势手术，并采用多模式镇痛方案。在术后为期8周的观察期内，我们记录了伤口愈合情况、局部炎症反应、体重、牛乳与犊牛开食料采食量、趴卧时长以及舔舐术区的行为。外科去势组的伤口平均于术后4周完全愈合，而橡胶环去势组仅有1头犊牛在8周观察期内实现伤口完全愈合。橡胶环去势术后的炎症反应更为显著：术区周围皮肤温度较外科去势组高1.7℃（±0.35）。与外科去势组犊牛相比，橡胶环去势组在整个研究周期内的体重增长更少（平均少增重11.9±5.1kg），该差异部分源于犊牛开食料采食量更低（平均少摄入1.8±0.6kg）。橡胶环去势组犊牛的趴卧时长更短（日均有效扫描时长中趴卧占比平均低4.2±1.2%），且舔舐术区的频率更高（日均多舔舐16.0±3.3次）。本研究结论表明，橡胶环去势组犊牛在术后数周内承受的疼痛更为强烈，因此建议在断奶前奶用犊牛的去势操作中优先选用外科去势法。