Perinatal mortality in 23 beef herds in Orkney: incidence, risk factors and aetiology.

BACKGROUND: Perinatal mortality in beef calves impacts on profitability and animal welfare, but the incidence and causes in UK herds are not well known. METHODS: Data from 11 herds were analysed to establish the risk factors for and incidence of perinatal mortality (full-term calves born dead or died within 48 hours). To establish cause of death, 23 herds in total submitted dead calves for postmortem examination (nine herds submitted all calves, 14 herds submitted calves on an ad hoc basis) and the results were reviewed by a panel. RESULTS: The incidence of perinatal mortality for all 1059 calvings was 5.1 per cent (range 1.6-12.4 per cent across herds; median 4 per cent). The incidence of stillbirth and neonatal mortality was 3.9 per cent (range 0-10.1 per cent) and 1.2 per cent (range 0-2.6 per cent), respectively. Sex of the calf, plurality and level of calving assistance were associated with significantly greater risk of perinatal loss. Parturition-related deaths (n=20), intrauterine infections (n=13), congenital malformations (n=6) and postpartum infections (n=6) were among the diagnosis recorded from 54 calves investigated. Parturition-related deaths and congenital malformations were recorded more commonly from herds submitting all losses than from those submitting on an ad hoc basis. CONCLUSION: Variation in perinatal incidence across herds exists and many fail to reach the 2 per cent target. Some significant risk factors and common causes of death identified have the potential to decrease perinatal mortality rates through improved herd management.

Postpartum ketoprofen treatment does not alter stress biomarkers in cows and calves experiencing assisted and unassisted parturition: a randomised controlled trial.

Dystocia is considered painful and stressful for both the dam and the calf, although systematic evidence of this is limited. Few studies have investigated biochemical markers of stress and pain postpartum and whether any adverse effects are ameliorated by administration of analgesia. In this study, cow-calf pairs experiencing both mild to moderate farmer assistance and no assistance at parturition were randomly assigned to either treatment or placebo group in a two-by-two design (animals subject to veterinary intervention were excluded). The treatments were the NSAID ketoprofen or saline, administered within three hours of parturition. Blood samples taken in the immediate postpartum period, and at 24 hours, 48 hours and 7 days after parturition, were analysed for plasma concentrations of creatine kinase and cortisol (cows and calves) and plasma L-lactate and total protein concentration (calves). Stress biomarkers were highest in the immediate postpartum period and declined over time (P<0.05). Cow plasma cortisol was higher in animals experiencing assisted parturition in the immediate postpartum period (P=0.023); by 24 hours no difference was evident. Intervention with NSAID analgesia did not result in beneficial changes in stress biomarkers. Based on biomarkers alone, this suggests limited benefits of NSAID treatment in unassisted or mild to moderately assisted parturition.