| Title: | Short communication: administering an appeasing substance to Bos indicus-influenced beef cattle at weaning and feedlot entry |
| Author(s): | Cooke RF; Millican A; Brandao AP; Schumaher TF; de Sousa OA; Castro T; Farias RS; Cappellozza BI; |
| Address: | "Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, 2471 TAMU, College Station, TX 77845, USA. School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, UNESP Rua Prof, R. Dr. Valter Mauricio Correa, s/n, Botucatu/SP 18168-681, Brazil. Nutricorp, Rodovia Wilson Finardi, Km 31, 5 Araras/SP 13601-000, Brazil. AgroVentura Pecuaria, Rodovia Castelo Branco Km 307, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo/SP 18900-000, Brazil" |
| DOI: | 10.1017/S1751731119002490 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1751-732X (Electronic) 1751-7311 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The bovine appeasing substance (BAS) is expected to have calming effects in cattle experiencing stressful situations. Therefore, this study investigated the impacts of BAS administration during two of the most stressful events within beef production systems: weaning and feedlot entry. In experiment 1, 186 Bos indicus-influenced calves (73 heifers, 113 bulls) were weaned at 211 +/- 1 days of age (day 0). At weaning, calves were ranked by sex and BW, and assigned to receive BAS (Nutricorp, Araras, SP, Brazil; n = 94) or water (CON; n = 92). Treatments (5 ml) were topically applied to the nuchal skin area of each animal. Calf BW was recorded and samples of blood and tail-switch hair were collected on days 0, 15 and 45. Calves that received BAS had greater (P < 0.01) BW gain from day 0 to 15 compared with CON. Overall BW gain (days 0 to 45) and BW on days 15 and 45 were also greater (P /= 0.13). In experiment 2, 140 B. indicus-influenced bulls ( approximately 27 months of age) from 2 different pasture-based systems (70 bulls/origin) were transported to a commercial feedlot ( 0.14). Therefore, BAS administration to beef calves alleviated the haptoglobin response associated with weaning, and improved calf growth during the subsequent 45 days. Administration of BAS to beef bulls at feedlot entry improved BW gain during the initial 15 days, but these benefits were not sustained throughout the 45-day experiment" |
| Keywords: | *Animal Feed/analysis Animals Brazil Cattle Communication Female *Haptoglobins/analysis Male Weaning appeasing bovine growth pheromone stress; |
| Notes: | "MedlineCooke, R F Millican, A Brandao, A P Schumaher, T F de Sousa, O A Castro, T Farias, R S Cappellozza, B I eng England 2019/10/23 Animal. 2020 Mar; 14(3):566-569. doi: 10.1017/S1751731119002490. Epub 2019 Oct 22" |
