Behaviors 3 and 6 weeks after caustic paste disbudding in dairy calves

Disbudding with caustic paste, which chemically destroys horn-producing tissue, is common on U.S. dairy farms. Research on behavioral changes in calves has predominantly focused on the 48 h after disbudding with a hot iron or caustic paste. In the weeks following the procedure, behavioral changes such as ear flicks, head shakes and other head and body movements have been evaluated primarily for hot-iron disbudding. Our objective was to quantify behaviors often associated with pain in calves for up to 6 wk after caustic paste disbudding compared with a sham procedure. Jersey and Holstein female calves were disbudded using caustic paste at 3 d of age with a local anesthetic (lidocaine) and an NSAID (meloxicam, n = 18), while control calves received a sham procedure (n = 15). To manipulate the calves’ experience, we measured behavior for both paste-disbudded and intact control calves under two conditions, either with the provision of lidocaine as a local anesthetic (Anesthesia observations..., Data were collected from 33 heifers. Calves were assigned to 1 of 2 treatments: caustic paste disbudding (n = 18; 13 Holsteins and 5 Jerseys) or control (n = 15; 11 Holsteins and 4 Jerseys). On d 3 of life, pain relief was provided, and Dr. Naylor’s paste was rubbed into unshaved horn buds at 0.25 or 0.30 mL/per horn bud when calves had a birth weight of < 34 kg or ≥ 34 kg, respectively for disbudded calves. All calves were video recorded 5 times during the next 6 wk. To manipulate the level of pain experienced, we measured behavior under 2 conditions for all calves, first without pain relief (Baseline) and then with 7 mL of 2% lidocaine per horn bud (Anesthesia) at the same time of day (~0630h). Anesthesia observations occurred at 4 d of age, 3 and 6 wk, while Baseline observations occurred at 3 and 6 wk. Videos recording lasted for 75 min and were continuously observed for the frequency or duration of 10 behaviors. The 75 min videos were initially broken up into \"segments\" which th..., , # Data from: Behaviors 3 and 6 weeks after caustic paste disbudding in dairy calves

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## Description of the data and file structure

### 1_BehaviorData_Prep.Rmd

This RMarkdown file uses the 1_Behavior Data_BORIS Outputs.xlsx and 2_2_Behavior Data_Numbness.xlsx file listed below to create the 3_Behavior Data_Second by Second.xlsx and 4_Disbudding and Pharmacological Manipulation.xlsx files. Rmd files can be downloaded and run in R. This file is annotated.

### *1_BehaviorData_Prep.pdf*

This file is the PDF output of the corresponding RMarkdown file, and includes the code and output previews. This file is annotated.

### *1_BehaviorData_BORISOutputs.xlsx*

The BORIS behavior output data was exported from BORIS observer software after continuous observation of the videos. Observation.id column shows Calf_YYMMDD_ObservationType(Baseline or LidocaineProbe) followed by a number indicating the video segment. These are then divided into the ..., ,